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Presented    b7V?e.\^  .  (^T-Vv-^vAX^^oV-Vs. 


LECTURE-ROOM  TALKS: 


A   SERIES   OP 


FAMILIAR    DISCOURSES 


THEMES-  OF   GENERAL  CHRISTIAN   EXPERIENCE. 


HENRY  WARD   BEECHER. 


Phonographioally  Reported  by  T.  J.  Ellinwood. 


NEW  YORK: 
J.  B.  FORD  AND  COMPANY, 

39  Park  Row. 

1870. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1870,  by 

J.    B.    FORD    &    CO., 

in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  for  the  Southern  District  of  New  York. 


IJniversity  Press  :  Welch,  Bigelow,  &  Co., 
Cambridge. 


PREFACE. 


DESIRE  the  reader  to  bear  in  mind  that 
the  subject-matter  of  this  book  was  de- 
livered in  the  week-night  prayer-meetings 
of  Plymouth  Church.  The  "Talks"  are  not  only 
colloquial  and  familiar,  but  they  carry  in  tliem 
much  more  of  the  personality  of  the  speaker  than 
is  usual  in  such  remarks.  But  I  have  considered 
the  want  of  personal  experience  in  Christian  dis- 
course one  reason  of  the  want  of  interest  usually 
felt  in  sermons.  No  one  can  read  the  discourses  of 
the  Apostles,  and  above  all  of  Paul,  without  perceiv- 
ing that  they  are  saturated  with  personal  experience. 
Where  such  elements  are  not  in  excess ;  where  they 
are  guided  by  a  modest  judgment,  and  do  not  de- 
generate into  empty  and  repetitious  egotism,  —  they 
become  the  source  of  great  power,  and  we  cannot  well 
afford  to  lose  them  out  of  the  Pulpit,  certainly  not 
from  the  more  social  and  familiar  Lecture-Room. 


iv  PEEFACE. 

I  have  left  both  the  selection  and  the  revision  of  the 

matter  of  this  book  wholly  to  the  judgment  of  others. 

As  the  separate  topics  are  short,  the  applications  very 

direct,   and  the   illustrations    drawn    from    familiar 

scenes,  it  is  hoped  that  they  may  be  acceptable,  in 

many  instances,  when  a  sermon  would  prove  too  long 

and  elaborate. 

HENRY  WARD  BEECHER. 

Brooklyn,  December,  1869. 


CONTENTS. 


— « — 

Page 

Parting  Words 1 

Experiences  Abroad 6 

Communion  Seasons 18 

Personal  Experience 21 

ItJORAL   HUSRANDRY .26 

^/Fervency  of  Religious  Feeling 30 

Groping  after  God 86 

Praying  for  Others 43 

Answers  to  Prayer 50 

Duty  of  Conversing  with  Impenitent  Sinners     ...  57 

The  Unwritten  Words  and  Deeds  of  Christ   ....  71 

Praise  and  Prayer 82 

Revivals  of  Religion ^    .        .        .94 

Love  to  Enemies 102 

The  Dying  Hour 108 

The  True  Christian  Soldier 113 

Trust  in  God 121 

True  Way  of  Representing  the  Christian  Life  .        .        .  134 

The  Universal  Brotherhood  of  Christians      ....  139 

Methods  of  Conversion 142 

Christian  Joyfulness 154 

The  Reason  for  Afflictions 159 

Relation  of  Feeling  to  Duty 163 

The  Christian's  Hope 165 

Religious  Conversation 174 


VI  CONTENTS. 

Growth  in  Grace 177 

Experimental  Religion 183 

"i   Making  Religion  Attractive  to  Children         ....  199 

Realization  of  Christ's  Presence 210 

Assurance  of  Salvation 224 

Heaven 240 

Church  Pride 244 

A  High  Christian  State 251 

Commercial  Honor 258 

The  Spontaneous  Goodness  of  God 277 

J  The  Fulness  of  Christ's  Love 282 

Working  for  Others 289 

Nature  and  Blessings  of  a  Christian  Life       ....  296 

Back  Again 299 

Your  Father  Knoweth 307 

Nearness  to  God 314 

Difficulties  of  Prayer 319 

J    The  Brooding  Love  of  Christ 334 

Conceit  of  Christians 340 

Consolation  in  Trouble 348 

Personal  Duty  in  Religion 354 

Helpful  Aspects  of  Christ 363 

A  Look  at  the  Past  Year 308 

J   Joy  in  Christ 376 


LECTURE-EOOM    TALKS. 


PARTING    WORDS.* 


THINK  we  are  occupying  the  dearest  place 
that  this  church  knows.  To  me,  at  least, 
around  about  the  Friday-night  prayer-meet- 
ina:  cluster  more  sacred  memories  than 
around  any  other  service,  and  from  it  proceed  more 
attractions  than  from  all  the  other  services  put  to- 
gether, I  shall  not  miss  the  Sabbath-days  half  so 
much  as  I  shall  the  Friday  evenings.  There  is  noth- 
ing else  that  seems  to  bring  me  so  near  to  you. 
When  you  are  all  singing  one  hymn,  there  is  a  kind 
of  mystic  unity  established  between  you  ;  and  none 
can  help  feeling  that  he  is  a  part  of  every  one 
whose  voice  is  mingling  with  his  own  in  sacred 
song.  Here,  too,  our  experiences  are  more  per- 
sonal ;  we  learn  to  know  each  other  by  the  spiritual 
man.  Here  we  are  conscious  that  we  have  had 
alleviations,  consolations,  and  joys,  at  times  almost 
unspeakable,  —  full  of  glory,  certainly.  And  this 
meeting   of    the    church    and    brotherhood,   cordial, 

*  At  the  last  prayer-meeting  before  Mr.  Beecher  sailed  for  Europe,  in 
1863. 

1  A 


2  LECTUEE-ROOM   TALKS. 

prayerful,  songful,  social,  is  very  dear  and  very  at- 
tractive to  me. 

When  I  am  gone  I  shall,  of  course,  think  of  the 
church  on  Sunday.  It  is  impossible  for  a  minister 
not  to  think  of  his  pulpit, — just  as  impossible  as  for  a 
mother  not  to  think  of  the  babe  from  which  she  is 
separated.  I  shall  think  of  all  the  duties  that  belong 
to  the  church  ;  but  it  will  be  of  the  Friday-night 
meeting,  of  the  gathering  of  the  brethren  here,  more 
than  of  any  other  service,  that  I  shall  think  :  partly 
because  I  am  so  much  refreshed  by  it,  —  for  when  I 
am  at  home  it  is  my  rest-meeting,  —  and  partly  be- 
cause I  shall  feel  sure  that  you  will  pray  for  me. 

Now,  let  me  say  that  you  must  not  be  disappointed 
if,  while  I  am  abroad,  it  should  please  God  not  to 
employ  me  at  all  in  any  public  ministrations.  Verily, 
I  have  no  purpose  formed.  I  am  entirely  uncertain 
as  to  what  I  shall  do  in  Europe.  Whether  I  shall 
shoot  through  England  and  go  upon  the  Continent  at 
once,  whether  I  shall  abide  in  England  for  two  or 
three  or  more  weeks,  or  whether  I  shall  pursue  some 
other  course,  I  do  not  know.  I  have  no  plan  laid. 
I  leave  the  whole  matter  to  the  Lord.  I  shall  fol- 
low the  Providence  that  leads  me ;  and  it  may  be 
that  that  Providence  will  not  open  any  door  for  me. 
There  are  a  great  many  doors  open  ;  but  a  door 
must  be  of  a  man's  size,  or  it  is  not  meant  for  him. 
I  have  seen  a  great  many  men  run  for  openings 
that  were  not  for  them.  If  it  please  God  to  open  a 
door  for  me,  and  to  give  me  to  understand  that  I  am 
to  enter,  I  shall  not  hesitate  to  do  so.  And  in  that 
case  I  have  another  desire.     It  is  simply  this :  that  I 


PARTING   WORDS.  3 

may  be  permitted  to  do  according  to  the  strength  that 
is  given  to  me,  not  your  work  exactly,  not  my  work, 
not  an  American's  work  even,  but  a  Cliristian  man's 
work.  For  I  hold  that  Christian  manhood  is  higher 
than  nationality.  It  is  higher  than  any  specialty.  It 
includes  everything  else.  As  long  as  there  was  no 
probability  of  my  going  to  England,  I  used  to  say 
what  things  I  would  about  "  those  dogged  English- 
men "  ;  but  now  that  I  am  going  there,  I  have  an 
increasing  desire  that  I  may  do  nothing  and  say  noth- 
ing that  shall  not  be  in  the  highest  spirit  of  the 
Saviour,  so  that  if  he  were  by  my  side,  he  might  lay 
his  hand  on  my  shoulder,  and  say,  "  Well  done."  I 
do  not  wish  to  speak  from  my  passions.  I  do  not 
wish  to  speak  from  anger,  nor  irritableness,  nor 
vengefulness,  nor  any  secular  and  lower  feeling.  I 
desire  to  rise  up  into  the  moral  sentiments.  Chris- 
tianized, and  speak  from  them,  think  from  them,  and 
act  from  them.  And  you  must  not  desire  that  I  shall 
give  the  people  over  there  a  flailing,  whether  or  not. 
You  must  not  desire  that  I  shall  go  over  to  "show 
them  what  an  American  can  do."  You  must  not  pray 
for  any  such  thing.  If  you  do,  your  prayers  will 
never  get  up  to  the  throne  of  God.  Your  desire 
should  be  this  :  that  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  may  be  honored  in  my  ministration,  whatever 
it  may  be.  Your  desire  should  be  that,  while  I  speak 
with  fearlessness,  with  courage,  I  shall  speak  also  with 
an  unmistakable  exemplification  of  love.  I  do  not  j 
think  that  anything  goes  far  which  has  not  the  wings 
of  love  to  make  it  buoyant,  so  that  it  can  fly.  It 
is  increasingly  my  wish  that  love   may  characterize 


4  LECTURE-ROOM   TALKS. 

all  my  words  and  actions  abroad  ;  and  for  that  I 
believe  I  shall  have  your  desires  and  your  prayers. 
The  Lord  will  give  me  work  to  do  if  he  chooses,  and 
he  will  prepare  me  to  do  it ;  but  if  he  has  no  work 
for  me  to  do  there  will  be  no  opening,  and  I  shall  go 
on  my  way,  attending  to  my  own  personal  and  private 
errands. 

So  much  for  myself.  The  rest  will  be  for  you. 
Many  of  you  will  betake  yourselves  to  the  country. 
You  will  scatter  every  whither.  I  pray  that  "  the 
peace  of  God  which  passeth  all  understanding," 
which  is  the  promise  fulfilled  in  this  life,  and  which 
is  also  the  fruition  of  the  heavenly  state,  may  rest 
upon  you.  May  your  hearts  be  as  underneath  the 
shadow  of  the  wings  of  the  Almighty !  Many  of  you 
will  return,  and  many  will  stay.  1  need  not  ask  you 
to  remember  this  church  as  a  table  spread,  where  you 
may  go  and  take  a  luxurious  repast,  and  more  active- 
ly in  its  prayer-meetings,  in  its  Sunday-school,  in  its 
mission  labors,  and  as  it  stands  vitally  connected 
with  the  life  of  the  masses  around  about  it,  —  be- 
cause that  you  will  do  for  your  own  sakes  ;  but  let 
me  ask  you  to  be  in  your  places  more  than  ever,  and 
to  be  more  faithful  than  ever  in  your  work.  If  there 
is  any  time  when  Christians  can  afford  to  be  careless, 
it  is  when  the  pastor  is  at  home  and  at  work  ;  but 
when  the  pastor  is  gone,  you  should  feel  tliat  it  is  your 
business,  by  your  presence  and  your  prayers  and 
your  zeal  and  your  labor,  to  witness  for  Christ  in  this 
church.  I  believe  that  you  will.  I  have  scarcely 
ever  asked  you  to  attend  meetings  when  I  was  at 
home,  for  I  have  gone  on  the  theory  that  it  was  my 


PAKTING   WOEDS.  5 

business  to  make  the  services  so  interesting  that  you 
would  come  without  being  asked.  But  now  I  am 
going  away  ;  and  for  a  novelty  I  exhort  you  to  attend 
the  meetings  of  the  church,  when  you  are  in  town, 
with  regularity  and  with  zeal.  Then  the  flame  will 
not  go  out  on  the  altar.  You  will  have  daylight  all 
the  time.  And  I  do  not  know  why  this  may  not  be 
a  summer  in  which  souls  shall  be  awakened  and  con- 
verted. You  might  bring  me,  on  my  return,  a  thou- 
sand more  flowers  than  the  sweet-handed  children 
brought  and  heaped  up  on  my  door-steps  the  other 
day ;  *  you  might  bring  me  treasures  of  silver  and 
gold, — and  these  would  touch  my  heart  as  memorials 
of  your  remembrance ; — but  the  best  things  with  which 
you  can  greet  me  when  I  come  back  will  be  sheaves 
in  your  bosom,  of  which  the  seed  has  been  sown  in 
tears  and  faith,  and  which  you  have  reaped  as  well  as 
sown,  —  hearts  newly  born  into  the  life  of  Jesus,  wait- 
ing on  the  threshold  of  his  church  to  come  in. 

*  The  anniversary  of  the  Sunday-schools  of  Brooklyn,  on  which  the 
Plymouth  Church  Sunday-School  marched  past  Mr.  Beechcr's  house, 
each  child  throwing  him  a  bouquet  as  a  farewell  gift. 


LECTURE-EOOM   TALKS. 


EXPERIENCES    ABROAD.* 


URING  all  my  absence,  this  place  lias  been 
the  point  of  my  thoughts.  Things  to  which 
we  are  really  most  inclined  we  do  not  al- 
ways think  most  of  when  we  are  subject  to 
the  mixed  influences  and  the  adventitious  excitements 
of  ordinary  life  ;  but  when  we  go  away  from  our  ha- 
bitual places,  and  familiar  things  address  us  not  di- 
rectly, but  only  through  the  pulses  of  memory,  they 
tend  to  separate  in  the  mind,  and  some  that  have 
seemed  important  begin  to  lose  power  with  us.  Many 
that  have  seemed  of  very  little  account  rise  with  dis- 
tinctness before  the  mind,  and  we  find  out  then  what 
are  the  things  that  have  exerted,  not  the  most  declam- 
atory, but  the  most  real  and  lasting,  influence  upon 
us.  And,  judged  in  that  way,  the  prayer-meetings  of 
this  brotherhood  have  grown  more  and  more  intensely 
the  dearest  to  nie  of  all  the  exercises  of  our  church. 
I  do  not  know  that  I  have  thought  once  in  all  my  ab- 
sence of  my  own  preaching,  nor  of  the  pleasurable 
excitement  through  which  it  has  taken  me.  That  has 
not  been  a  thing  that  has  asserted  itself  at  all  in  my 
memory.  I  have  thought  of  the  congregation  ;  but  I 
have  taken  notice  that  the  congregation  which  rose 
before  my  mind  has  beeil  almost  invariably  as  it  has 
looked  to  me  in  times  of  revival.     You  know,  in  re- 

*  Related  by  Mr.  Beeclicr  at  the  first  prayer-raccting  after  his  return 
from  Europe,  in  1863. 


EXPERIENCES  ABROAD.  7 

spect  to  friends  whom  we  love,  that  it  is  always  cer- 
tain peculiar  expressions  which  present  themselves, 
and  that  those  expressions  are  the  ones  which  we 
think  of  in  connection  with  our  different  friends. 
Now,  the  expression  of  the  great  congregation,  which 
almost  always  presents  itself  to  my  mind,  is  that 
which  it  wore  when  the  most  active  religious  feeling 
existed  and  was  developing,  —  in  the  time  of  spirit- 
ual quickening.  It  is  the  church  in  the  labor  of 
love  for  the  conversion  of  men  to  the  edification  of 
God's  body  that  has  most  firmly  impressed  itself  upon 
my  mind.  And  I  have  always  felt — selfishly,  I  had 
almost  said  —  that  to  come  back  to  my  church  meant 
to  come  back  here,  where  I  had  a  part  of  the  comfort 
of  religious  service.  In  the  great  congregation  I  have 
the  work,  and  you  are  recipients ;  but  in  the  prayer- 
meeting  I  receive  my  part  also.  There,  I  carve  and 
serve  ;  but  here  I  sit  at  the  table,  and  take  my  por- 
tion with  the  rest  of  you.  And  it  was  toward  the 
thought  of  coming  back  into  the  prayer-meeting,  and 
to  the  communion  of  the  brotherhood  of  the  church, 
that  my  mind  moved  more  than  toward  anything 
else.  For  I  have  not  changed,  except  to  be  stronger 
in  the  convictions  that  before  were  strongest,  —  be- 
lieving that  the  vital  thing  in  Christian  association 
and  life  is  Christ ;  and  that  the  wealth  of  individual 
experience  and  the  power  of  associated  Christians  are 
to  be  measured  by  the  degree  in  which  they  are  in 
sympathy  with  Christ,  and  enjoying  the  peculiar  bless-- 
ings  which  his  Spirit  vouchsafes  to  us. 

I  believe  you   will   bear  me   witness   that  I  have 
always  been  strong  in  the  faith  of  Christ  in  this  inti-. 


8  LECTURE-ROOM   TALKS. 

mate  and  personal  communion ;  but  I  come  back,  if 
it  were  possible,  even  more  intense  in  my  convictions 
in  tliat  direction  than  I  ever  was  before.  Of  all  the 
passages  that  stay  by  me,  and  are  forever  budding 
and  blossoming  and  bringing  forth  fruit,  to  bud  over 
again  and  blossom  and  bring  forth  more  fruit,  there 
is  none  that  is  more  efflorescent  and  fruitional  than 
this  :  "  The  life  which  I  now  live  in  the  flesh,  I  live  by 
faith  in  the  Son  of  God." 

And  now,  in  reference  to  my  journeyings,  I  must 
say  to  you  that  in  the  scope  of  observation  and 
of  pleasure  which  I  have  just  enjoyed,  and  which 
has  been  wider  than  any  ever  open  to  me  before  in 
my  life  ;  in  studying  the  treasures  of  the  European 
continent ;  in  the  midst  of  scenery  which  not  only 
was  in  its  own  intrinsic  self  grand  or  beauteous,  but 
in  association  was  still  more  interesting  ;  even  under 
the  stimulus  of  all  the  triumphs  of  the  human  mind, 
as  represented  in  the  various  developments  of  social, 
political,  and  artistic  achievement,  —  I  have  never  been 
for  one  single  hour  or  moment  turned  aside  to  the 
worship  of  these  things.  It  has  pleased  God  to  give 
me,  all  the  time,  uninterruptedly,  this  feeling :  that 
even  these  things  had  no  value  as  they  stood  apart 
from  the  thought  of  God  ;  and  they  have  their  great- 
est beauty  and  glory,  as  I  look  at  them,  in  the  light 
of  God's  countenance.  Thus  it  was  among  the 
mountains,  and  in  the  valleys,  and  in  cities,  in  tlie 
midst  of  superlative  architecture,  and  in  galleries  of 
pictures  and  curiosities.  Those  things  were  supreme 
to  me  which  seemed  most  full  of  the  beauty  that  pioved 
in  the  atmosphere  of  the  divine  mind  and  love. 


EXPERIENCES  ABROAD.  9 

Allow  me  to  say,  still  further,  that  in  being  sepa- 
rated from  my  proper  work,  although  I  had  the 
strongest  desire  to  avail  myself  of  the  sources  of 
information,  realizing  how  ignorant  I  was,  and  how 
much  there  was  that  ought  to  belong  to  one's  knowl- 
edge which  I  could  learn  if  I  had  the  chance,  I  never 
felt  so  much  how  poor  that  selfishness  was  that  passes 
under  the  name  of  "self-culture."  And  when  I 
thought  of  sitting  down  to  accumulate  knowledge 
from  eminent  teachers,  although  it  would  have  been 
a  pleasure,  I  shrank  from  the  feeling  as  compared 
with  the  love  of  active  usefulness  in  the  kingdom  of 
God.  I  did  not  undervalue  these  things,  for  I  seized 
what  I  could  in  passing,  and  I  could  easily  see  that 
for  some  men  it  might  be  duty  to  pause  and  study,  as 
becoming  teachers  for  others  in  the  direction  of  ajs- 
thetic  culture,  —  a  really  important  sphere.  Yet  all 
the  time  I  felt :  "  It  is  not  for  me  ;  this  is  not  my  life  ; 
this  is  not  my  sphere :  it  belongs  to  me  to  labor  in  the 
moral  realm  ;  I  am  to  go  back  and  work  directly 
upon  men  and  for  men." 

And  then,  since  this  is  our  own  family  meeting, 
I  want  to  tell  you  how  good  God  was  to  me  in  Eng- 
land. There  are  two  dangers  that  one  may  be  thrown 
into  when  placed  in  the  circumstances  that  I  was  in : 
one  is  despondency  and  worldly  anger,  and  the  other 
over-self-estimation  and  undue  conceit.  I  think  I  was 
kept  from  both  extremes,  and  was  lifted  up,  I  had 
almost  said,  by  the  visible  appearing  of  my  Master. 
So  intense  was  the  impression  on  my  mind  at  times, 
and  certainly  in  the  three  weeks  which  were  the  most 
trying  to  me,  that  I  seemed  almost  like  a  child  taken 


10  LECTURE-EOOM  TALKS. 

up  by  a  mother,  and  carried  in  the  midst  of  riot  and 
tumult  in  her  arms,  she  whispering  all  the  time  words 
of  assurance  and  love.  It  pleased  God  to  open  his 
bosom  and  hold  me  there,  and  to  give  me  the  most  per- 
fect rest  and  quiet,  I  think,  that  I  ever  experienced 
in  my  life,  for  so  long  a  period,  under  such  critical  cir- 
cumstances. I  recognized  the  situation  full  well ;  but, 
before,  I  had  known  it  only  in  less  measure,  and  in  less 
emergent  cases. 

You  know  very  well  how  much,  from  this  distance, 
I  had  felt  in  respect  to  the  wrong  that  England  had 
done  us,  and  how  grieved  and  indignant  I  was  :  not 
from  any  malign  feeling,  but  from  the  intensity  of 
my  conviction  that,  in  this  country,  we  were  doing 
God's  work,  and  that  we  were  being  dishonored  by 
our  brethren  there,  through  misinformation.  And 
when  I  went  to  England,  the  matter  was  not  mended. 
When  I  found  those  who  were  our  friends  so  blinded 
and  so  hesitating;  when  I  found  the  church  of  God  — 
particularly  that  portion  of  it  which  I  most  sympa- 
thized with  —  so  cold,  so  prejudiced,  so  almost  re- 
volted from  us,  the  natural  man  did  not  like  it,  and  I 
had  to  struggle  with  myself.  I  had  to  say  everything 
twice.  I  almost  always  struck  fire  first,  and  then  put 
it  out  by  the  rain  of  compassion  and  kindness. 

So  I  went  through  England  the  first  time,  with  a 
half-uttered  denunciation,  which  melted  off  into  a 
right  feeling.  I  had  to  labor  with  myself  to  be  a 
Christian  toward  Englishmen.  And  that  was  the  ob- 
ject which  I  had  set  up  before  me  all  the  while.  I 
said :  "  I  have  endeavored  all  my  life  to  be  a  Christian 
man  toward  those  who  did  wrong,  and  here  I  am  in 


EXPERIENCES   ABROAD.  11 

this  country,  and  it  is  my  duty  to  be  a  Christian  in  my 
feelings  toward  these  men.  It  is  very  hard,  Lord,  but 
I  will  try  to  love  them,  and  to  act  as  if  I  did."  On 
the  Continent  I  carried  my  burden,  and  that  was  it. 
I  used  to  say  in  my  mind,  "  Do  not  talk  to  me  about 
Englishmen  :  I  cannot  bear  them  "  ;  and  I  was  vexed 
because,  after  I  said  so,  I  found  that  I  did  carQ  for 
them.  It  was  not  a  very  fearful  conflict,  but  there 
was  just  that  kind  of  oscillation  in  my  mind.  They 
seemed  to  me  so  recreant  to  the  great  truths  of 
God's  kingdom,  as  revealed  in  this  day,  that  I  could 
not  away  with  it. 

Well,  it  was  an  object  of  my  prayers  that  God  would 
lift  me  into  a  higher  sphere.  He  did  ;  and  I  was  con- 
scious, when,  as  time  passed,  and  I  having  rested 
from  exciting,  exhausting  home  labor,  I  went  back  to 
England,  that  I  was  more  peaceful,  and  that  I  was 
taken,  by  the  power  of  God's  spirit,  into  a  sphere 
where  I  had  compassion  on  those  who  are  out  of  the 
way,  and  that  I  saw  and  felt  more  that  side  of  the 
Saviour  which  was  kind  to  poor  men,  and  to  men  that 
were  prejudiced  and  unreasonable.  I  often  read  that 
passage  where  Christ  is  spoken  of  as  enduring  "  the 
contradiction  of  sinners."  I  found  that  I  could  endure 
also. 

And  when  the  fire  was  once  kindled,  it  never  went 
out.  So  that  when  I  found  it  my  duty  to  labor  there 
in  our  cause,  —  or  rather  in  the  cause  of  God,  —  I 
was  saved  from  all  further  trouble.  It  pleased  God 
to  give  me  an  abiding-place  in  the  tabernacle  of  his 
love,  out  of  which  I  looked  luimoved,  undisturbed, 
upon  everything.     And,  more  than  that,  it  was  borne 


12  LECTUEE-EOOM   TALKS. 

in  upon  me  almost  as  by  a  word  of  angels  :  "  Take  no 
thonght  what  ye  sliall  speak,  for  it  shall  be  given  you 
in  tliat  same  hour  Avhat  ye  shall  speak."  Of  course, 
my  life-long  studies  and  observations  had  laid  the 
foundation  for  this,  so  that  no  miracle  would  be 
wrought ;  but  to  select  the  right  things  to  speak, 
and  to  speak  tliem  in  the  right  spirit,  was  a  most 
difficult  thing.  And  it  pleased  my  Lord  and  Saviour 
to  give  me  a  trusting,  childlike,  and  restful  feeling 
that  took  from  me  all  solicitude  ;  although  I  felt,  as  I 
had  never  conceived  it  possible  for  me  to  feel,  the 
shadow  of  two  such  great  nations  resting  on  me,  and 
the  responsibility,  in  some  sense,  of  their  future.  Not 
that  I  had  any  feeling  at  all  of  my  own  importance, 
but  simply  this :  "  Here,  in  the  providence  of  God, 
you  stand  in  an  exigency  that  gives  power  of  life 
and  death."  And  yet,  with  all  that  consciousness 
of  responsibility,  I  never  had  an  anxious  thought 
or  an  anxious  moment. 

When  I  came  to  Manchester  from  Edinburgh,  I 
knew  the  moment  I  saw  the  committee  who  met  me 
at  the  cars,  by  the  way  they  looked,  what  was  on  their 
mind  ;  for  I  had  received  some  intimation  from  the 
papers  that  there  was  a  storm  brewing  ;  and  when 
these  gentlemen,  after  driving  to  the  hotel,  asked  to 
see  me  a  few  moments  before  retiring  (that  was 
Thursday  night,  and  I  was  to  speak  Friday  evening), 
I  said  :  "  If  you  mean  this  row  in  the  streets,  do  not 
give  yourselves  any  concern,  I  am  ready  for  it."  We 
despatcliod  that  little  matter  of  business  in  less  than 
five  minutes.  I  prepared  the  next  day  a  formal  pro- 
gramme of  my  speech  ;  and  I  never  shall  forget  my 


EXPERIENCES   ABROAD.  13 

ride  with  the  two  or  three  gentlemen  that  accompanied 
me  to  the  hall  at  the  hour  appointed  for  the  lecture. 
It  was  raining  a  little,  and  I  remember  the  shadowy 
look  that  everything  had  as  I  passed  down  the  streets. 
I  recollect  saying  to  myself,  "  I  am  going  to  I  know 
not  what."  And  I  call  to  mind  the  prayer  that  si- 
lently went  lip  from  my  heart  all  the  way.  It  was 
simply  this  :  that  I  might  be  a  witness  for  that  which 
should  please  God,  without  any  regard  to  men,  and 
especially  without  any  regard  to  myself.  It  was  not 
what  we  sometimes  experience,  —  a  perception  of  what 
is  right,  and  a  struggle  to  get  at  it.  I  was  in  the 
feeling  already,  and  it  was  out  of  the  experience  that 
I  prayed  for  more  of  it.  I  was  willing  to  be  nothing 
for  the  sake  of  Christ,  and  my  reputation  was  nothing 
at  all  to  me.  I  said :  "  If  the  enemies  of  God  triumph 
over  me,  and  put  me  to  shame  here  to-night,  it  will  be 
perfectly  right.  I  am  willing  that  it  should  be  so,  if 
it  be  the  will  of  God." 

In  such  a  condition  of  spirit  I  went  into  that  great 
Free-Trade  Hall,  which  holds  eight  thousand  people  ; 
and,  next  to  that  in  Liverpool,  the  audience  here  was 
the  most  difficnlt  to  manage  of  all  that  I  addressed  ; 
and  that  being  my  first  public  speech  in  England,  it 
was  the  most  critical  period,  I  saw  at  once  that  there 
was  a  team  to  be  driven  there  such  that  it  would  not 
do  for  the  coachman  to  be  asleep  on  the  box !  And 
then  I  had  it  borne  in  upon  me  that  in  my  lecture  I 
had  better  not  undertake  to  follow  the  course  I  had 
proposed ;  so  I  laid  down  my  notes,  and  struck  out 
another  plan,  and  extemporized  the  whole  speech. 
For  I  had  two  things  to  do  all  the  time.     The  un- 


14  LECTURE-ROOM   TALKS. 

folding  of  the  subject  was  secondary.  I  had  to  con- 
trol the  audience  primarily,  while  opening,  as  far  as 
consistent  with  the  subject  which  I  had  in  hand.  And 
during  the  tumult  and  the  interruptions  (which  were 
far  greater  than  anything  that  you  would  be  led  to 
infer  from  the  reports  that  appeared),  during  the 
tremendous  excitement  that  prevailed,  I  was  so  far 
from  being  excited  or  disturbed  that  the  thought  of 
being  so  struck  me  as  no  less  absurd  than  the  thought 
of  a  man  getting  irritated  in  summer  while  sitting  by 
the  side  of  a  persistently  babbling  brook.  It  did  not 
seem  that  that  tumult  of  the  people  had  any  relation 
to  me  individually.  And  while  it  was  going  on  and 
raging,  it  seemed  almost  like  the  sound  of  a  storm  at 
sea,  or  of  the  wind  among  trees,  which  I,  in  connec- 
tion with  all  nature,  had  my  share  of,  but  which  did 
not  belong  to  me  particularly. 

And  afterward,  when  1  went  to  Glasgow,  where 
there  is  a  great  deal  of  ship-building,  and  where  for 
commercial  reasons  there  is  a  great  deal  of  Sovithern 
sympathy,  I  had  the  same  feeling.  I  made  my  prep- 
aration on  the  day  I  spoke,  and  I  never  came  into 
this  room  in  a  more  truly  "  revival  "  frame  of  mind 
than,  when  the  evening  came,  I  went  on  the  platform 
there.     And  it  was  the  same  in  Edinburgh. 

When  I  came  to  Liverpool,  —  the  scene  of  the  hardest 
of  all  the  labor  I  performed  during  my  absence  ; 
where  I  waded ;  where  the  Red  Sea  closed  on  me, 
and  I  had  to  swim  through  to  the  other  shore,  the 
wheels  of  my  chariot  coming  off,  and  the  chariot  drag- 
ging heavily  at  the  bottom,  —  though  I  was  exhausted 
in  body,  and  all  used  up,  like  a  ship-master  wlio  for 


EXPERIENCES   ABROAD.  15 

two  hours  and  a  half  in  a  violent  gale  has  been 
obliged  to  bawl  out  his  commands  incessantly,  yet  I 
never  lost  the  feeling  of  compassion.  I  felt  as  royal 
as  a  prince,  and  looked  down  on  the  audience  as  a 
prince  would  look  down  on  the  sports  of  children. 
And  when  the  men  did  the  most  outrageously  in- 
sidting  things,  they  did  not  insult  me.  The  taunts, 
the  jeers,  the  whistlings,  the  yellings ;  the  cutting 
in  two  of  my  sentences,  or,  when  I  began  them,  end- 
ing them  in  the  most  comical  manner ;  the  spoiling 
of  sentiments,  and  turning  my  own  words  back  on 
me,  —  and  this  not  once,  nor  twice,  but  straight 
through  for  two  hours  and  a  half,  in  a  way  that  I 
must  pronounce  utterly  unfair  and  ungentlemanly,  — 
these  things  never  for  a  moment  disturbed  me.  I  felt 
all  the  time  that  I  had  a  great  parcel  of  children  there, 
and  that  I  was,  as  it  were,  a  nurse,  and  was  managing 
them  ;  and  I  had  the  feeling  of  kindness  and  compas- 
sion and  sorrow  for  them  from  beginning  to  end. 

Now,  you  know  enough  of  me  to  know  that  patience 
is  not  a  natural  gift.  I  have  as  much  temper  as  any- 
body, and  as  much  disposition  to  use  it  for  rebuffing  any 
aggressions  upon  my  personal  propriety  and  honor.  I 
look  upon  that  frame  of  mind  as  the  fulfilment  of  my 
prayer  to  God  that  he  would  accept  my  labor,  and 
that  he  would  sustain  me  in  it  not  only,  but  prepare 
me  for  it,  all  the  way  through. 

No  sooner  were  my  lectures  spoken  than  they  were 
like  chickens,  with  twenty  hawks  watching  for  each 
chicken.  The  ablest  papers  in  England,  the  London 
Times,  the  Standard,  the  Telegraph,  the  Liverpool  and 
Manchester  papers,  and  the  Scotch  papers,  all  came 


16  LECTURE-ROOM  TALKS. 

down  upon  me  in  the  most  unhandsome  style  ;  and 
yet  with  tliese  it  was  as  it  was  with  the  turbulent 
audiences,  —  I  simply  did  not  care. 

And  that  spirit  abode  with  me  to  the  very  last. 
Why,  the  fact  is,  when  I  was  preparing  to  go  away 
from  London,  and  from  Liverpool,  we  had  a  good  cry- 
ing-meeting. The  breakfast  at  which  I  bade  farewell 
to  the  brethren  of  these  places  was  one  at  which  we  all 
had  a  good  cry.  I  felt  as  though  I  was  leaving  old 
companions  ;  and  I  felt  a  love,  not  only  for  those  that 
were  there,  but  for  tliose  that  were  not  there,  and 
would  not  have  been  there  ;  and  my  whole  heart  left 
its  blessing  on  England,  —  on  Great  Britain, —  good 
and  bad,  —  the  whole  of  them. 

I  mention  these  things  because  I  have  taught  you 
that  the  testimony  of  the  grace  of  God,  in  the  various 
experiences  of  life,  is  always  the  most  comforting 
of  things.  You  sent  me  out,  and  I  went,  as  a  ser- 
vant of  our  common  Master,  but,  humanly  speaking, 
as  your  minister.  Everywhere  I  went  it  was  my  pride, 
as  well  as  my  pleasure,  to  have  it  understood  that  I 
went  as  your  minister  ;  that  I  was  not  travelling  on 
my  own  errands  alone,  nor  by  my  own  support,  but 
was  sent  abroad  by  the  affection  of  my  church. 
And  your  honor,  and  what  seemed  to  me  to  be  the 
most  becoming  to  you  under  God,  never  was  absent 
from  my  thought  a  moment.  I  think  I  can  say  truly 
that  when  I  became  assured  that  the  work  was  done, 
and,  as  I  hoped,  not  unworthily,  tke  pleasure  that  I 
derived  from  it  was  far  more  the  thought  of  finding 
that  you  were  satisfied  tlian  the  consideration  of  any 
outside  praise. 


EXPERIENCES  ABROAD.  17 

I  mention  these  things  because  I  feel  that  there 
ought  to  be  some  confidential  meetings  in  such  a 
church  as  this,  while  tlie  great  congregation  does  not 
afford  us  the  opportunity  of  any,  and  because  this  pas- 
sage of  experience  is  one  of  the  most  memorable  of 
my  life.  For  while  outwardly  it  has  looked  like  a 
season  of  political  campaigning,  and  not  a  thing  un- 
usual in  my  history,  yet  inwardly,  and  to  my  thought, 
it  has  been  a  remarkable  period  of  my  religious  life, 
and  a  development  of  simple  Christian  experience, 
such  as  I  never  before  knew.  I  bring  this  testimony 
back  to  you. 

My  last  testimonies  to  you,  before  going  away,  were 
of  the  Christ  whom  I  loved,  and  in  whom  you  hoped 
and  lived,  and  will  hope  and  live  forever.  And  now 
I  come  back,  and  I  speak  of  the  same  Saviour,  only  in 
a  different  wise,  and  of  that  grace  given  by  him  to  me, 
in  answer  to  your  prayers,  which  abounded  in  me, 
and  was  sufficient  for  me.  "  As  my  day,  so  was  my 
strength." 

I  have  returned  into  your  midst.  Christian  brethren, 
desiring,  above  everything  else,  not  to  leave  the  min- 
istry, not  to  go  into  any  other  sphere  of  labor.  I  am 
not  seduced  by  a  wish  or  ambition  for  pleasure  in 
new  fields.  I  come  back  a  thousand  times  more 
desirous  of  the  Christian  ministry  than  ever  before, 
and  with  a  keener  relish  and  comprehension  of  what 
it  is  to  labor  with  you  in  the  kingdom  of  God. 


18  LECTURE-ROOM  TALKS. 


COMMUNION    SEASONS. 


HERE  are  circumstances  which  make  some 
of  the  different  communion  seasons  more 
significant  than  others :  not,  of  course,  in 
their  intrinsic  interest,  since  they  are  al- 
ways the  setting  forth  of  the  sufferings,  the  death,  and 
the  triumph  thereby,  of  Christ ;  but  of  the  times  of 
doing  this,  some  are  more  interesting  than  others. 

No  one  can  sit  down  to  the  table  of  the  Lord,  it 
seems  to  me,  upon  the  first  sabbath  of  the  year,  and 
not  find,  over  and  above  the  intrinsic  solemnity  of 
that  precious  ceremony,  extrinsic  considerations  of 
the  mercies  and  experiences  of  the  past,  and  of  the 
hopes  and  anticipations  of  the  coming  year.  There 
is  special  to  the  opening  communion  of  the  year  some- 
thing that  makes  it  peculiarly  dear  and  impressive. 

And  then  there  spring  up  remembrances,  sometimes, 
that  make  certain  seasons  of  communion  more  inter- 
esting than  others.  Thus,  the  month  of  May  will  be 
remembered,  at  least  by  many  among  us,  as  long  as  they 
live,  with  its  accompanying  communion  ;  because  in 
the  May  of  1857  occurred  that  memorable  time  when 
so  many  scores  of  converts  were  gathered  together,  and 
when,  sitting  in  ranks  before  the  altar,  they  rose  up 
almost  as  if  half  the  congregation  were  rising,  and, 
amidst  great  joy,  were  received  among  God's  people. 

There  will  be  also  other  special  reasons  for  different 
communion  seasons  being  interesting  to  particular  per- 


COMMUNION   SEASONS.  19 

sons.  To  me  there  is  always  something  peculiarly 
uliecting-  in  the  last  communion  of  the  summer.  To 
many  of  you,  perhaps,  it  may  not  seem  as  it  does  to 
me.  I  go  away  during  the  month  of  August.  The 
communion  of  the  Lord's  Supper  on  the  first  Sabbath 
of  July  is  the  last  till  the  next  autumn.  And  al- 
though there  is  not  any  more  likelihood  of  separation 
by  death  or  disaster  because  we  are  temporarily  apart 
than  there  would  b"e  if  we  were  together,  yet  the  feeling 
is  different.  When  we  are  separated,  we  cannot  but 
feel  that  there  is  a  difference,  —  that  we  may  not  come 
together  again.  The  chances  are  the  same,  but  our 
feelings  are  not.  Many  of  you  will  have  the  oppor- 
tunity to  refresh  yourselves  in  the  country.  The 
order  of  our  meetings  is  somewhat  changed.  This  is 
the  last  evening  that  I  shall  be  with  you  in  the  prayer- 
meeting  during  the  summer.  And  in  these  hot  days 
of  midsummer  there  seems  to  be  a  kind  of  suspension 
in  our  ordinary  methods  of  public  worship.  We  shall 
go  our  several  ways.  If  we  come  back,  it  may  be 
with  ranks  thinned.  Some  that  are  here  to-night  may 
not  be  here  again  when  the  summer  solstice  is  over. 

But  just  now  *  there  are  other  thoughts  that  come  in, 
over  and  above  these  customary  ones.  A  great  many 
of  our  brethren  are  separated  from  us,  in  the  public 
service.  There  seems  to  be  that  pause  and  stillness 
in  our  national  affairs  which  precedes  the  burst  of 
the  thunder-clap.  Those  that  have  gone  from  our 
midst  are  brought,  in  the  providence  of  God,  where 
they  may  be  permitted  to  lay  down  their  lives  for  their 
country,  and  for  principles  as  dear  to  them  as  them- 

*  July,  1861. 


20  LECTURE-EOOM  TALKS. 

selves  ;  and  I  cannot  but  think  that  our  next  com- 
munion may  be  one  in  which  we  shall  feel  ourselves 
privileged  and  constrained  to  call  the  names  of  the 
martyrs,  —  the  names  of  those  of  the  church  and  of 
the  congregation  that  have  been  ours,  and  have  gone 
up  rejoicing  from  us  toward  heaven,  and  into  it. 

Under  such  circumstances,  with  these  premonitions, 
with  such  possibilities  in  the  future,  in  the  enjoyment 
of  this  prayer-meeting  preceding  the  Lord's  Supper, 
and  the  anticipation  of  that  exercise  itself,  full,  I  will 
not  say  of  solemnity  (for  I  am  not  accustomed  to  feel 
that  it  is  "  solemn  "  according  to  the  ordinary  accepta- 
tion of  the  word),  but  full  of  deep  and  affecting  in- 
terest, —  under  such  circumstances,  it  seems  to  me 
that  we  should,  more  than  ever,  do  as  children  do 
in  the  anticipation  of  trouble  or  danger,  when  they 
flock  around  about  the  parent  as  the  central  author- 
ity of  the  family.  To  whom  shall  we  go  but  unto 
Him  that  has  in  his  hands  the  keys  of  life  and  of 
death,  who  wears  the  crown  of  empire,  who  holds 
the  sceptre  of  dominion  and  authority  ?  To  whom 
can  we  as  individuals  and  families,  and  a  church, 
resort,  but  to  the  King  of  kings  and  the  Lord  of 
lords,  the  Head  of  the  church,  before  whom  none 
are  forgotten  ;  who  cannot  see  the  weakest  and  the 
most  unfriended  hardly  bestead,  and  not  have  com- 
passion and  thoughtful  care  ? 

Brethren,  it  is  good  to  be  made  to  realize  our  need 
of  Christ ;  it  is  good  to  be  cut  off  from  earthly  de- 
pendencies :  it  is  good  to  be  shut  up  to  God,  so  that 
we  cannot  but  feel  that  he  is  indeed  our  life,  that 
without  him  we  can  do  nothing,  and  that  with  him 
we  can  do  all  things. 


PERSONAL  EXPERIENCE.  21 


PERSONAL    EXPERIENCE. 


HIS  is  the  last  prayer-meeting  of  the  year,* 
of  our  regular  series.  I  think  we  may  well 
make  it,  therefore,  a  meeting  of  remem- 
brance and  of  gratitude  and  thanksgiving. 
I  desire  to  bear  witness  in  my  own  behalf  to  the  faith- 
fulness and  great  goodness  of  God  to  me  in  my  per- 
sonal history,  and  in  my  social  and  official  relations. 
I  think  that  in  many  respects  I  have  never  passed 
through  a  year,  if  I  may  so  express  myself,  of  such 
mwa7-dness,  of  so  many  unuttered  thoughts,  and  of  so 
many  striving  and  yearning  feelings,  in  my  life,  as  the 
year  just  closing  has  been.  At  times  it  has  seemed 
to  me  almost  as  if  I  were  set  free  from  the  body,  and 
as  if,  like  a  bird  (or  many  birds,  for  thoughts  go  in 
flocks),  I  were  flying  up  through  the  great  untrav- 
elled  void  of  thought.  It  is  incident  to  the  life  that 
I  am  obliged  to  live,  —  of  investigation  into  the  roots 
of  things  ;  of  looking  at  the  nature  of  truth,  and  at  its 
relations ;  of  examining  every  diversity  of  experience, 
and  every  sort  of  mind  ;  of  scrutinizing  objections, 
and  running  alpiig  the  line  of  philosophical  deduc- 
tions,—  it  is  incident  to  such  a  life  more  or  less  to  be 
sceptical ;  that  is,  to  raise  questions  of  facts  that  have 
been  received,  to  have  doubts  which  suggest  further 
investigation,  to  unsettle  tilings  that  they  may  be 
settled  again  firmer  than  before.     It  does  not  lie  in 

*  1862. 


22  LECTURE-KOOM   TALKS. 

the  ordinary  course  of  duty  to  do  this.  It  is  peculiar 
to  professional  duty.  And  it  cannot  be  done  without 
more  or  less  effect  upon  a  person's  own  mind.  My 
natural  temperament  is  what  might  be  called  bold ;  and 
I  never  yet  have  seen  the  time  when  I  shrank  a  mo- 
ment from  carrying  any  principle  out  to  its  apparently 
legitimate  results.  I  never  saw  a  train  of  investiga- 
tion that  I  was  afraid  to  follow,  wherever  it  might 
lead.  As  far  as  my  own  mind  is  concerned,  I  have 
acted  frankly  and  openly  in  my  investigations  ;  and  as 
much  this  year,  perhaps,  as  during  any  former  year 
of  my  life,  have  I  been  enabled  to  do  this.  And  I 
desire  to  bear  witness  to  the  divine  goodness,  in  that 
I  have  been  carried  through  the  year  thus  far  with  a 
growing  sense  of  God,  and  with  a  decreasing  sense  of 
man.  Man  has  never  before  seemed  to  me  so  little. 
The  human  powers  have  never  before  seemed  to  me 
so  feeble.  I  have  never  before  so  felt  that  men  were, 
in  their  proudest  estate,  no  more  than  leaves ;  and 
that  their  life,  and  the  life  of  the  branches  themselves, 
depended  altogether  upon  the  parent  stem.  I  never 
realized  so  much  that  man's  life  stands  absolutely  in 
God's  presence  and  power,  as  I  have  done  in  the  past 
year. 

I  have,  further  than  that,  been  made  to  feel,  in  com- 
mon, I  suppose,  with  almost  the  whole  church,  how  de- 
pendent we  are  upon  God  in  providence,  as  well  as  in 
grace.  I  have  never  before  been  so  shut  up  to  God,  and 
made  to  feel  that  there  was  no  strength,  no  hope,  no 
help,  no  succor,  except  in  Him.  And  yet,  under  anxie- 
ties, mider  evil  auspices,  under  heavy  burdens,  under 
severe  trials,  I  have  never  found  the  day  when  I  could 


PERSONAL  EXPERIENCE.  23 

not  go  to  God  and  lay  down  my  troubles.  I  have  not 
preached  to  you  a  doctrine  that  I  have  not  practised. 
I  do  not  mean  that  I  have  come  up  to  my  ideal  of 
duty :  I  mean  that  if  I  have  preached  a  doctrine  of 
forgiving  enemies,  I  have  practised  that  doctrine  to 
the  extent  of  my  ability  ;  that  if  I  have  preached  faith 
in  Christ,  I  have  had  faith  in  Christ ;  that  if  I  have 
preached  the  sweetness  and  blessedness  of  prayer,  it  is 
because  I  have  found  out  that  it  is  sweet  and  blessed  ; 
and  that  if  I  have  preached  that  there  is  such  a  thing 
as  carrying  burdens  to  God,  it  is  because  I  know  how 
true  it  is. 

For  various  reasons,  this  has  been  a  year  in  which 
I  have  been  more  burdened  than  in  any  other  year 
of  my  life.  I  never  before  saw  half  so  much  trouble, 
in  many  respects,  as  I  have  seen  at  some  periods  dur- 
ing the  past  year.  And  I  bear  witness  to  the  faith- 
fulness of  Christ.  I  declare,  in  the  presence  of  his 
people,  that  his  title  to  me  is,  "  He  that  is  able  to  do 
exceeding  abundantly  above  all  that  we  ask  or  think." 
I  have  had  things  that  I  looked  iipon  as  the  worst 
evils  turn  out  to  be  the  greatest  blessings.  Out  of 
some  things  that  seemed  like  the  piercing  of  iron  into 
my  soul,  God  has  wrought  salvation.  And  I  am  dis- 
tinctly conscious  now  that  when  my  way  was  hidden 
from  me,  it  was  not  hidden  from  God ;  and  that  he 
was  carrying  me  mercifully,  though  strangely,  on  to 
the  fulfilment  of  his  purposes  of  love. 

During  the  past  year,  I  have  endeavored  to  preach 
so  as  to  make  up  for  the  want  of  pastoral  labor  in  the 
church.  I  have  tried  to  keep  you  enlightened  respect- 
ing your  duties.     1  have  not  been  unmindful  of  the 


24  LECTURE-ROOM   TALKS. 

separations  of  families,  or  of  the  losses  of  friends  that 
many  have  sustained.  I  have  been  aware  of  the  dis- 
turbances of  business.  The  despondencies  of  those 
in  bereavements  and  afflictions  have  not  escaped  my 
notice.  And  I  have  tried  to  preach  so  as  to  keep  the 
courage  and  the  heart  of  the  church  up  by  humble 
faith  in  God  through  Jesus  Christ.  I  have  had,  in 
some  degree,  success  in  that  work.  I  have  loved  to 
do  it. 

Now  and  then,  a  man  preaching  right  straight 
through  the  year,  in  season  and  out  of  season,  must 
fall  upon  dry  hours  when  he  cannot  do  what  he  wants 
to,  and  when  he  feels  that  it  is  a  fruitless  and  profit- 
less task  in  which  he  is  engaged.  For  the  moment,  it 
is  a  torment  to  spoil  a  good  subject  by  a  bad  sermon, 
—  and  I  know  what  that  is.  But  take  the  year  to- 
gether I  have  felt,  not  that  I  was  doing  remarkably 
well,  but  that  when  I  shook  the  tree  of  life  some  fruit 
dropped.  This  has  been  a  year  of  trouble,  of  agita- 
tion, of  tremendous  outward  commotion.  When  it 
began,  I  wondered  if  it  would  be  possible  to  keep  a 
flame  burning  on  the  altar  in  the  sanctuary  when 
there  was  such  a  wind  outside.  And  I  desire,  with 
the  utmost  gratitude,  and  Avith  an  unfeigned  sense 
of  God's  goodness,  to  make  mention,  to-night,  that 
the  Word  of  God  in  the  sanctuary  has  been  to  me 
fresh,  strength-giving,  and  comforting.  And  the  Lord 
during  the  past  year  has  set  his  seal  to  his  truth. 
Not  a  few  have  been  converted ;  a  good  many  have 
been  reclaimed  from  backsliding  ;  and  a  large  number 
have  been  comforted  that  had  no  consolation  but  in 
Christ's  Church. 


PERSONAL  EXPERIENCE.  25 

And  SO,  brethren,  I  will  say,  in  brief,  that,  if  I  look 
into  my  own  heart,  I  have  much  to  thank  God  for  in 
reviewing  the  past  year  ;  and  I  sensibly  feel,  that,  if  I 
look  into  my  relations  of  friendship,  there  is  a  great 
deal  that  comes  to  me  perfumed  with  the  love  of 
Christ.  And  if  I  look  upon  the  work  of  this  church, 
—  by  pastor  and  people,  in  the  sanctuary,  in  the  Sab- 
bath-school, and  in  the  evening  meetings  during  the 
^eek,  —  I  feel  as  though  God  had,  in  a  great  and 
wonderfvil  manner,  blessed  us,  and  given  us  occasion 
to  offer  him  devout  thanks. 


26  LECTURE-ROOM  TALKS. 


MORx\.L    HUSBANDRY. 


ijHE  providence  of  God  moves  in  moral  things 
somewhat  according  to  the  analogy  of  the 
seasons  in  natural  things.  Vegetation  does 
not  stand  still  altogether  in  winter  ;  and 
yet  that  is  not  the  peculiar  growing-season.  The 
spring  for  sowing  the  seed  ;  the  summer  for  ripening 
the  harvest ;  the  autumn  for  reaping  it.  It  seems  as 
though  the  autumn  were  the  most  precious  part  of  the 
year,  hecause  then  the  farmer  gathers  in  his  products. 
But,  after  all,  sowing  and  reaping  are  only  parts  of 
one  thing,  and  the  spring  and  the  autumn  are  own 
brothers. 

So  it  is  in  respect  to  the  work  of  God.  There  are 
some  periods  which  seem  to  be  seed-sowing  —  that  is, 
seed-hiding  —  periods.  You  labor  and  organize  with 
no  apparent  and  immediate  result.  What  you  do 
grows  through  various  stages  before  it  springs  up  and 
is  ready  for  the  harvest.  We  are  apt  to  suppose  that 
special  harvest-seasons,  more  than  other  parts  of  the 
history  of  the  church  and  of  God's  moral  cause  in  the 
world,  are  peculiarly  periods  of  God's  visitation  ;  but 
God  visits  the  church  when  he  is  sowing  the  seed, 
when  he  is  ripening  the  harvest,  and  when  the  reap- 
ing-time  comes.  These  are  all  blessed,  connected 
parts  of  the  one  great  system  of  divine  government  in 
moral  things. 

Although  winter  is  not  the  time  for  sowing  seed, 


MORAL   HUSBANDRY.  27 

every  gardener  who  has  a  glass-house  will  tell  you  that 
there  are  some  seeds  to  be  put  in  in  the  winter-time. 
Although  spring  is  the  general  time  for  putting  in 
seed,  every  farmer  will  tell  you  that  he  sows  some 
kinds  of  seed  in  June  and  July,  and  other  kinds  iii 
September  and  October. 

It  is  just  so  in  moral  husbandry.  And  what  is 
meant  by  being  "  instant  in  season  and  out  of  season  " 
is  working  at  the  appointed  times  and  by  the  usual 
methods,  and  then  working  intermediately  whenever 
you  get  a  chance,  and,  if  need  be,  by  methods  differ- 
ing from  those  ordinarily  adopted. 

Of  the  seeds  that  I  sowed  last  spring  on  the  side- 
hill,  where  there  was  a  strong  wind,  some  did  not 
go  into  the  little  furrows  that  I  had  made,  but  were 
blown  to  other  places,  where  they  sprang  up  ;  and 
I  have  noticed  that  some  of  the  stockiest,  strongest, 
and  best  plants  are  those  that  were  chance-sown. 

Some  of  the  best  things  that  men  ever  do  are  things 
that  they  do,  as  it  were,  accidentally.  The  best  things 
that  a  man  says,  you  know,  are  not  the  things  that  he 
sets  out  to  say,  but  those  that  he  says  without  think- 
ing. The  tersest  sentences  and  figures,  the  most  con- 
densed apothegms,  which  men  speak,  are  struck  out 
in  a  moment.  A  whole  lifetime  is  sometimes  crowded 
into  a  single  sentence. 

Now,  that  which  is  true  of  the  garden  and  ordinary 
matters  is  true  in  respect  to  religious  work.  If  a  man 
is  living  in  the  spirit  of  a  Christian  life  ;  if  he  feels 
the  power  of  the  eternal  world  ;  if  in  his  own  soul  are 
tides  which  God's  heart  lifts  and  lets  out  again,  and 
lifts  and  lets  out  again  ;  if  he  is  living  after  the  exam- 


28  LECTURE-ROOM   TALKS, 

pie  of  bis  Master, — there  will  be  sbowers  and  floods  of 
tlioiigbt  and  feeling  and  action  in  bis  history.  Some 
things  that  are  done  without  prescribed  form  are  more 
profitable  than  things  that  are  done  in  a  formal  way. 
Work  out  of  season  is  oftentimes  as  much  blessed  of 
God  as  things  done  in  season. 

Altliough  a  prudent  man  would  scarcely  undertake 
to  lead  a  churcli  into  a  revival  in  the  midst  of  sum- 
mer and  the  prostration  of  business,  yet  the  summer 
is  a  time  when  men  who  have  a  heart  to  work,  a  ten- 
der heart,  and  a  heart  that  loves  Christ  and  men,  can 
do  things  that  they  can  never  do  so  well  at  any  other 
time.  There  are  many  persons  who  are  comfortless, 
and  need  consolation  ;  there  are  many  persons  who 
are  cast  down,  and  need  to  be  lifted  up  ;  there  are 
many  persons  who  need  to  be  led  from  a  material  view 
of  life,  and  to  be  made,  in  the  hour  of  trouble,  to  look 
beyond  the  things  of  this  world,  and  learn  that  "  a 
man's  life  consisteth  not  in  the  abundance  of  the 
things  which  he  possesseth."  And  if  at  ordinary 
times  a  man  shows  himself  to  have  a  heavenly  mind 
and  a  true  Christian  conscience,  his  words  and  exam- 
ple have  a  power  which  they  would  not  have  in  a 
time  of  great  religious  feeling. 

We  are  surprised  much  more  to  find  a  blossom 
where  we  do  not  expect  to,  than  to  find  one  in  a 
flower-bed.  And  to  find  the  fragrance  of  Christian 
conversation  in  circumstances  where  we  do  not  expect 
to  find  it,  makes  it  more  significant  than  to  find  it  in 
the  chiircb  on  Sunday,  where  you  look  for  it. 

In  short,  the  summer  is  a  time  wlien  those  who 
love  the  cause  of  God  will  find  enough  to  do.     If  the 


MORAL   HUSBANDRY.  29 

love  of  many  1ms  waxed  cold,  and  if  tlic  cause  of  God 
in  its  cliurcli  organizations  seems  to  droop,  then  there 
is  afforded  just  that  which  every  true,  untiring,  faith- 
ful Christian  heart  ought  to  ask  and  desire,  —  a  chance 
to  work  "  out  of  season."  Tiie  great  trouble  with 
men  is  not  a  lack  of  opportunity,  it  is  the  need  of  a 
disposition  to  improve  the  opportunities  they  have. 
Our  trouble  is  not  to  know  what  to  do,  it  is  to  have 
a  heart  to  do  what  we  know. 


30  LECTURE-KOOM   TALKS. 


FERVENCY  OF  RELIGIOUS  FEELING. 

^Y  some,  fervency  of  religious  feeling  is 
looked  upon  with  disallowance,  because, 
as  they  have  seen  it  among  ignorant  and 
super-excitable  people,  it  has  led  to  exhibi- 
tions of  weakness  and  folly  ;  because  it  sometimes 
manifests  itself  in  modes  that  are  offensive  to  culti- 
vated tastes  ;  and  because  it  is  supposed  to  be  a  kind 
of  straining  after  unusual  experiences,  which  are  not 
fairly  within  the  reach  of  common-sense  piety.  There- 
fore we  hear  a  great  many  persons  say  that  a  moderate, 
low-toned  state  of  practical  fidelity  is  far  better  than 
a  fervent  state  of  feeling. 

As  between  an  experience  of  violent  actions  and 
reactions  of  high  feeling,  with  its  corresponding  indif- 
ference, and  an  experience  that  is  low-toned,  but  con- 
sistent and  even  all  the  time,  there  can  be  no  question 
as  to  where  the  choice  should  be.  There  can  be  no 
doubt  but  that  it  is  more  favorable  to  piety,  and  to  all 
that  we  seek  in  glorifying  God  by  our  example,  to 
have  a  steady,  uniform,  decorous  Christian  experi- 
ence. 

The  question,  then,  which  I  propose  to  consider,  is 
not  at  all  whether  an  irregular  experience,  charac- 
terized by  great  heights  and  great  depressions,  is 
better  than  an  experience  that  is  uniform  and  con- 
sistent, but  whether,  in  a  steady  course  of  Christian 
life,  it  is  better  to  be  in  an  elevated  or  a  low  plane  of 


FERVENCY   OF   RELIGIOUS   FEELING.  31 

feeling.  And,  in  the  case  of  a  person  who  may  live 
consistently  and  uniformly,  either  at  a  low  level  of 
feeling  or  at  a  high  pitch  of  feeling,  I  vote  for  the 
latter.  Not,  however,  for  the  reason  that  is  usually 
given,  and  perhaps  usually  the  one  actually  felt, 
namely,  that  it  is  the  happier  way.  It  undoubtedly 
is  the  happier  way ;  but  the  man  who  is  constantly 
making  his  own  happiness  the  object  in  view,  whether 
that  happiness  be  of  the  lower  or  the  higher  kind,  can- 
not be  noble.  It  is  not  noble  to  seek  mere  happiness 
even  in  Christian  things.  For  happiness  is  not  the 
highest  motive,  by  a  great  deal. 

The  reason  why  I  prefer  this  higher  tone  of  feeling, 
uniformly  maintained,  is,  first,  that  it  brings  a  person, 
more  easily  and  continuously  into  sympathy  with  God. 
The  great  point  at  which  we  are  accustomed  to  say 
that  our  faith  is  faint  and  feeble  is  where  the  mind 
should  gain  a  realization  of  the  divine  nature  ;  and 
no  man  has  a  sense  of  God  present  with  him  upon  a 
dull  nerve,  upon  a  low-toned  or  moderate  state  of  feel- 
ing. Without  going  into  the  philosophy  of  the  sub- 
ject, it  is  enough  to  state  the  fact  that,  whenever  we 
come  into  a  consciousness  of  the  presence  of  God  so 
that  anything  in  us  responds,  whether  it  be  hope,  or 
fear,  or  love,  or  conscience,  we  are  always  in  a  state 
of  exaltation.  This  takes  place  only  when  the  nerve 
and  the  brain  are  awakened,  and  when  the  feelings 
are  full,  and  quick,  and  high,  and  strong.  The  revela- 
tion of  God  to  the  soul  is  always  through  the  medium 
of  fervent  feeling,  and  never  through  the  medium  of 
low  and  moderate  feeling,  no  matter  how  consistent 
that  low  and  moderate  feeling  may  be. 


32  LECTURE-EOOM   TALKS. 

The  next  reason  which  I  urge  for  fervency  of  re- 
ligious feeling  is,  that  it  is  healthy.  A  great  many 
persons  think  that  high  feeling  will  eat  one  up.  It 
will  if  it  is  anxiety.  It  will  if  it  is  fear.  There  is 
nothing  so  corrosive  as  fear,  —  and  anxiety  is  fear,  in 
its  lower  forms  of  application  and  development.  A 
high  feeling  of  passion  is  injurious  to  the  whole  physi- 
cal well-being.  But  one  of  the  subtle  and  intricate 
evidences  of  the  truth  of  religion  is  the  fact  that  high 
feeling  in  the  moral  sentiments,  so  far  from  being  ex- 
hausting, is  nourishing.  I  believe  that  no  other 
persons  can  have  such  health  of  body  and  soul  as 
they  may  have  who  are  accustomed  to  high,  fervent, 
sweet  religious  feelings. 

Now,  let  a  church  be  inflamed,  and  let  the  preach- 
ing and  the  education  which  are  brought  to  bear 
upon  them  be  such  as  to  stir  them  up  to  a  sense  of  the 
peril  of  men  under  the  law,  and  to  a  sense  of  their 
responsibility  in  relation  to  those  that  are  around 
about  them,  and  they  will  possess  great  power  for  a 
time ;  but  they  will  wear  out  very  quick.  It  is  not 
in  human  nature  for  even  the  best  men  to  endure 
being  long  under  the  influence  of  an  excited  con- 
science. They  cannot  bear  it  a  great  while.  A  reac- 
tion will  certainly  come  if  it  is  continued  beyond  a 
given  point. 

But  let  a  church,  on  the  other  hand,  be  brought  up 
with  a  fervent  love  of  God,  with  an  overflowing  joy  in 
the  Holy  Ghost,  with  that  faith  which  brings  near  the 
tranquillities  of  eternal  rest,  and  that  church  will  have 
food,  not  for  forty  days  only,  but  for  forty  years.  I 
do  not  think  the  moral  sentiments  react  and  wear 


FERVENCY   OF   KELTGIOUS   FEELING.  33 

men  out,  except  in  their  extremest  forms.  You  may 
have  an  average  level  of  feeling  many,  many  degrees 
higher  than  your  ordinary  level,  where  the  feelings 
are  of  the  higher  class  of  Christian  emotions,  and  not 
only  not  be  worn  out,  but  be  made  actually  healthier. 

You  may  smile,  but  I  believe  that  fervency  of 
religious  feeling  medicates  the  body.  I  believe  that 
the  brain  administers  the  best  medicine  that  anybody 
can  take.  "When  it  is  rightly  employed,  it  controls 
bone  and  muscle,  and  corrects  morbid  tendencies  in 
the  physical  constitution.  And  I  believe  that  a  person 
who  lives  in  a  fervid  experience  of  these  higher  moral 
sentiments  has  health,  not  only  of  soul,  but  of  body. 

One  thing  more.  It  is  from  this  state  of  mind  — 
the  state  of  mind  to  which  the  apostle  referred  when 
he  exhorted  men  to  be  "  fervent  in  spirit  "  —  that  care 
and  trouble  rebound. 

If  you  heat  a  stove  just  moderately,  and  sprinkle 
water  upon  it,  every  drop  commences  hissing  and 
dancing  all  over  it ;  and  there  is  a  vast  amount  of 
sputtering  before  it  is  evaporated.  But  carry  that 
stove  up  to  an  intense  heat,  and  then  sprinkle  water 
upon  it,  and  instantly  there  is  an  explosion  of  the 
drops,  and  they  are  gone.  There  is  something  in  the 
heat  that  changes  them  to  vapor  speedily.  They  can- 
not remain  on  the  stove  an  instant. 

Take  a  person  who  is  in  a  low  religious  state,  and 
his  mind  is  just  in  the  condition  to  be  affected  by 
care  and  trouble.  Disturbances,  coming  upon  him, 
are  not  readily  dissipated.  Tliey  dance  and  hiss  on 
his  feelings,  but  do  not  evaporate.  Little  things  be- 
come great  to  him.     Small  burdens  get  to  be  vast. 

2*  c 


34  LECTURE-ROOM   TALKS. 

Slight  annoyances  are  intolerable.  And  he  doubts 
whether  there  is  any  such  thing  as  religion,  and 
whether  there  arc  any  Christians  in  the  world,  and 
begins  to  suspect  tliat  all  men  are  a  pack  of  insincere, 
wicked  beings,  going  together  down  to  hell. 

But,  oftentimes,  this  low  state  of  feeling  in  which  a 
man  is  highly  susceptible  to  troubles  and  cares,  and 
in  which  doubt  predominates,  is  followed  by  the  oppo- 
site state,  some  circumstances  operating  on  the  mind 
in  such  a  way  as  to  raise  its  tone,  and  so  clothing  it 
with  the  power  of  easily  vanquishing  those  cares  and 
those  troubles. 

Why,  you  know  how  it  is,  when,  on  a  summer's 
day,  you  are  languid,  and  arc  in  a  perspiration,  and 
your  patience  is  at  a  low  ebb,  and  you  are  called  to 
travel  in  a  railroad  car.  They  ivill  have  the  window 
open  the  wrong  way,  and  in  come  the  cinders  and 
smoke  and  dust.  And  there  is  such  a  noise  !  And 
people  do  crowd  you  so !  Was  there  ever  anything 
so  inconvenient  as  travelling  under  such  circum- 
stances ?  You  have  nothing  to  do  but  to  surrender 
yourself  up,  and  think  of  these  things  in  their  selfish 
form,  —  in  their  relation  to  your  own  pleasure  and 
comfort. 

But  let  a  person  who  is  inspired  by  some  good 
tidings,  or  who  is  on  his  way  home,  and  who  is  run- 
ning over  with  joy,  be  by  your  side  in  that  car.  He 
has  to  put  up  with  the  cindei's  and  smoke  and  dust 
and  noise,  as  well  as  you ;  and  yet  he  is  full  of  hap- 
piness. He  is  not  affected  by  these  things.  He  does 
not  realize  that  they  are  inconveniences. 

What  is  the  difference  between  you  and  that  person, 


FERVENCY   OF  RELIGIOUS   FEELING.  35 

but  the  power  that  lie  has,  in  his  joyful  state  of  mind, 
to  throw  off  annoyances,  and  your  inability,  in  de- 
pression, to  throw  them  off  ?  You  know  very  well 
that  at  certain  critical  periods,  when  your  mind  is 
absorbed  by  great  feelings,  those  little  things  which 
ordinarily  would  irritate  you  have  no  dominion  over 
you.  The  soul,  when  it  gathers  its  strength,  and  feels 
its  own  majesty,  rises  above  the  trifling  accidents  of 
life,  and  rides  triumphantly  over  them,  as  an  ark  over 
a  flood. 

Moreover,  in  this  higher  state  of  mind  there  is  lu- 
minousness.  In  other  words,  it  is  the  state  of  mind 
in  which  you  fulfil,  unconsciously,  the  command, — 
"Let  your  light  so  shine  before  men  that  they  may  see 
your  good  works,  and  glorify  your  Father  which  is  in 
heaven."  Both  what  you  do  thoughtcdly  and  what 
you  do  unconsciously  become  sympathetic  among 
those  that  are  around  about  you,  and  your  example 
and  influence  are  practically  felt. 

Blessed  are  they  that  know  how  to  have  fervor  — 
that  is,  burning  —  in  spirit. 


36  LECTURE-EOOM   TALKS. 


GROPING    AFTER    GOD 


PIERE  is  hardly  any  experience  more  piti- 
ful than  what  may  be  called  the  experi- 
ence of  a  sincere  person  groping  after  God, 
conscious  of  his  own  weakness,  of  his  great 
want,  and,  in  a  sort  of  rude  and  imperfect  way,  of 
the  infinite  world,  and  of  the  great  interests  that  be- 
long to  it.  There  are  many  who  perpetually  suffer 
from  spiritual  hunger,  and  arc  helpless  ;  and  I  find 
that  in  the  majority  of  instances  such  persons  have 
been  misinstructed,  or  else  have  misconceived  good 
instruction. 

For  instance,  I  find  a  great  many  persons  who  at- 
tempt to  come  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  as  a  person 
would  go  to  a  king  that  had  given  out  invitations  for 
a  grand  levee,  and  expected  every  one  who  came  to 
wear  a  court  dress.  While  all  the  rich,  that  had  silks, 
and  satins,  and  money  in  profusion,  were  getting  ready 
and  going,  others  would  be  staying  at  home,  because 
they  had  only  homespun  garments,  or  were  in  tatters, 
and  had  no  means  of  better  clothing  themselves. 

Suppose  you  should  desire  to  go  to  the  levee  of  the 
King,  —  or  the  President,  i^  you  like  that  word  better, 
—  but  should  hesitate  because  you  had  not  better  cloth- 
ing ;  and  suppose  lie  should  send  out  word,  "  Come 
without  stoi)ping  for  better  clothing";  and  suppose 
you  should  still  hesitate,  feeling  that  there  must  be 
some  preparation  necessary ;  and  suppose  he  should 


GROPING   AFTER   GOD.  37 

send  out  again,  saying  to  every  one:  "Make  known 
your  want,  and  I  will  supply  it ;  I  will  send  you  the 
very  garments  you  need  ;  I  will  send  you  money  with 
which  to  pay  your  expenses  :  only  let  me  know  what 
you  want,  and  you  shall  have  it,  —  provision  for  your 
journey  ;  the  necessary  funds  for  travelling  ;  a  convoy 
to  guide  and  protect  you  ;  and  a  ticket  of  entrance  ; 
and  finally  you  shall  receive  a  hearty  welcome.  Only 
come,  and  all  these  incidental  matters  shall  be  pro- 
vided for."  If  such  a  thing  should  take  place  in 
secular  affairs,  you  would  not  be  in  doubt  as  to  what 
course  to  pursue.  And  it  ought  to  be  more  easy  and 
more  glorious  in  a  spiritual  than  in  a  worldly  sense. 

Here  is  one  who  says :  "  I  had  no  advantages  in  my 
early  life.  I  was  brought  up  among  people  that  swore, 
and  stole,  and  drank,  and  did  everything  that  was 
wicked  ;  and  I  but  just  escaped  the  clutches  of  de- 
struction. I  formed  many  bad  habits  which  cling  to 
me  now.  And  yet,  when  I  look  upon  the  life  of 
Christians,  I  say,  '  It  is  good.'  I  would  give  all  the 
world  to  be  as  they  are,  and  I  strive  to  become  like 
them ;  but  I  do  not  seem  to  make  any  progress.  If 
I  only  had  God  to  help  me,  I  think  I  could  make  some 
headway." 

The  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is  just  exactly  what  such  a 
person  needs,  —  a  Friend ;  and  not  one  who  will  for- 
give him  when  he  has  repented,  but  one  who  will  help 
him  to  repent.  He  is  not  One  who  will  reward  him 
only  when  he  has  perfected  his  righteousness.  He  is  a 
schoolmaster  who  says :  "  You  cannot  be  what  you  de- 
sire to  be  till  you  go  to  school ;  and  I  have  opened  a 
school  for  just  such  as  you  ;  and  if  you  will  come  to 


38  LECTURE-ROOM   TALKS. 

this  school  I  will  teach  you  that  which  you  need  to 
know."  He  is  not  like  a  physician  who  should  stand 
saying  to  the  man  that  is  sick,  "  Come  to  my  office 
when  you  get  well."  He  is  One  who,  when  you  say  to 
him,  "  Come  and  see  my  case,  —  I  am  sick,"  says,  "  It 
is  my  nature  and  my  mission  to  do  that."  He  declared 
that  he  came  to  heal  the  sick,  and  not  the  whole.  And 
when  he  made  that  declaration,  he  wanted  men  to  un- 
derstand that  it  was  the  key-note  of  the  divine  nature 
to  help  them  ;  that  God  had  in  himself  all  that  they 
needed,  and  that  he  was  beforehand  with  them  ;  that 
he  thought  of  them  before  they  thought  of  themselves ; 
that  he  loved  them  before  they  loved  themselves  ;  that 
he  made  provision  for  strengthening  their  weakness 
before  they  knew  that  they  were  weak ;  that  he  exer- 
cised forbearance  toward  them  while  yet  they  were  his 
enemies  ;  and  that  when  they  rose  to  go  toward  him 
he  stretched  out  his  arms  to  receive  them  while  they 
were  afar  off.  Christ,  while  men  were  yet  in  their 
whole  flagrant  glow  of  sinful  life,  gushing  selfishness, 
towering  pride,  and  envyings,  and  hatreds,  looked  upon 
them,  and  loved  them,  and  laid  down  his  life  for  them. 
And  shall  not  God,  having  given  his  Son,  freely  give 
us  all  things  that  we  need  to  get  out  of  evil  withal  ? 

It  is  when  I  get  these  views  of  Clirist  as  the  All- 
helper,  as  the  One  in  whom  centres  that  which  we 
need  to  enable  us  to  go  on  to  what  are  called  the  con- 
ditions of  acceptance,  that  it  pains  me  most  to  see  men 
groping  after  him  in  the  dark.  But  why  need  they 
thus  grope  ? 

A  person  says  :  "  I  wish  I  was  a  Christian  ;  I  try  to 
become  one ;  I  pray  God  to  change  my  heart ;  I  read  ; 


GROPING  AFTER   GOD.  39 

I  meditate ;  I  watch  the  source  of  my  motives ;  and 
yet  I  do  not  succeed  in  attaining  that  which  I  strive 
after."  But  what  does  such  a  groper  as  that  wait 
for  ?  The  moment  a  man  really  wants  to  be  a  Chris- 
tian, he  is  one.  The  moment  a  man  really  wants  to 
love  me,  he  does  love  me.  He  could  not  want  to  love 
me  if  he  had  not  that  predisposition  which  amounts 
to  the  initial  form  of  love.  To  be  sure,  where  it  is 
a  thing  that  requires  time  and  space  and  functional 
ceremony,  the  wishing  for  it  is  not  having  it ;  but 
where  it  is  a  thing  that  turns  on  the  nature  of  the 
mind  itself,  wishing  is  having.  For  instance,  the  mo- 
ment a  man  really  wants  to  have  knowledge,  that 
moment  he  begins  to  have  it.  The  want  itself  is  the 
first  step  of  knowledge.  When  a  man  begins  to  wake 
up  in  the  morning,  he  is  half  awake.  When  a  man 
feels  an  impulse  toward  a  thing,  that  impulse  is  the 
thing  itself  in  a  nascent,  undeveloped  state. 

It  is  true  that  many  people  have  a  kind  of  super- 
ficial desire  to  be  Christians,  that  does  not  amount  to 
anything  more  than  casual,  transient  flashes  of  feel- 
ing ;  but  where  a  person  earnestly  says,  "  I  desire  to 
be  free  from  my  sins ;  I  desire  to  accept  Christ  and 
to  obey  him,"  those  desires  are  preliminary  and  initial 
experiences  of  a  Christian  state.  If  such  persons  only 
knew  that  Christ  was  their  Physician,  their  Teacher, 
their  Nurse  ;  if  they  only  knew  that  he  put  his  arms 
about  such  as  they,  and  drew  them  toward  him,  and 
took  them  up,  and  taught  them  how  to  be  Christians, 
and  waited  for  them  to  become  Christians,  and  helped 
them  as  the  loving  parent  or  the  kind  teacher  helps 
the  little  child,  they  would  have  no  trouble. 


40  LECTURE-ROOM   TALKS. 

How  does  the  village  schoolmistress  deal  with  little 
"  abecedarians  "  ?  She  does  not  whip  them,  nor  turn 
them  out  of  school,  because  they  cannot  read.  She 
says,  "  They  are  little  children,  and  it  will  take  time 
and  labor  to  bring  them  forward  ;  but  they  will  come 
up  to  it  by  and  by  "  ;  and  she  encourages  them,  and 
pats  them  on  the  head,  and  so  keeps  them  along. 

Our  Saviour,  from  the  time  when  little  children  sat 
upon  his  knee,  has  been  ready  to  help  men,  and  to 
encourage  them.  He  is  forever  saying  to  men  that 
need  aid,  "  Let  me  help  you  "  ;  and  the  moment  a 
man  wants  to  be  helped,  and  says  to  Christ,  "  Help 
me,"  the  work  has  begun  in  him.  I  think  there  are 
many  and  many  persons  that  are  Christians  and  do 
not  know  it. 

My  watch  stops.  Something  is  broken  in  it.  I 
take  it  to  the  watch-maker,  and  he  puts  in  a  new 
mainspring.  I  do  not  know  anything  about  it,  except 
that  he  does  it.  And  when  it  is  repaired  he  lays  it 
aside.  Presently  I  go  for  my  watch,  and  ask  him  if 
it  is  done.  "  0  yes,"  he  says,  "  but  I  do  not  know  as 
it  is  going."  And  he  takes  it,  and,  finding  that  it  does 
not  go,  he  winds  it  up.  And  then  it  does  not  go,  per- 
haps ;  but  he  gives  it  a  little  turning  shake,  and  it 
commences  ticking  and  keeping  time. 

I  know  many  persons  who  have  a  mainspring  in 
them,  and  have  been  wound  up,  for  that  matter,  but 
who  have  not  been  shaken  yet !  And  there  they  are. 
If  somebody  would  only  take  them  iip  and  whirl  them 
round  a  few  times,  and  say  to  them,  "  You  are  Chris- 
tians :  tick!  tickP^  they  would  commence  keeping 
time,  and  go  on  keeping  time.     I  have  known  persons 


GROPING  AFTER   GOD.  41 

that  spent  months  and  months,  not  only  making  no 
progress,  but  losing  ground,  just  for  the  want  of 
knowledge  of  the  fact  that  the  office  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  was  to  take  people  in  order  that  they  might  he 
good;  and  that  it  Avas  his  nature,  after  he  had  taken 
them,  to  be  patient  with  them,  and  help  them,  and 
encourage  them,  and  bring  all  the  power  of  his  being 
to  bear  upon  them  to  save  them. 

There  is  a  still  more  painful  form  of  this  groping 
after  Christ,  I  think,  where  men  feel  that  they  have 
sinned  away  their  day  of  grace  ;  where  they  feel  that 
they  are  so  bad  that  God  will  not  take  them.  Some- 
times this  is  the  result  of  bodily  disease,  and  some- 
times it  is  the  result  of  a  diseased  theology.  I  can 
understand  how  one  might  come  to  have  that  feeling 
who  had  been  brought  up  to  think  of  God  as  a  spirit- 
ual being  afar  off,  and  as  the  conservator  of  law  and 
government  in  the  universe.  But  how  one  who  thinks 
of  Christ  as  the  Helpful  One,  who  heals  the  sick,  and 
extends  a  helping  hand  to  the  needy,  and  is  accessible 
to  the  poorest  creatures  that  live,  —  how  such  a  one 
could  ever  feel  that  Christ  would  reject  him  in  his 
distress,  in  his  greatest  need,  I  can  hardly  imagine. 
Yes,  I  can  imagine  it,  because  I  had  a  little  of  it  when 
I  was  sixteen  or  seventeen  years  old,  at  Amherst  Col- 
lege. I  remember  how  I  tried  to  do  impossible  things, 
and  how  I  thought  God  had  given  me  up  to  eternal 
reprobation  because  I  did  not  succeed.  I  remember 
how  for  weeks  I  felt  as  though  God  had  shut  the 
heaven  up  forever  and  forever  upon  me.  When  I 
look  back  upon  it  I  see  where  my  trouble  was,  and 
smile  at  myself.     But  I  have  a  feeling  of  pity  for  men 


42  LECTURE-ROOM  TALKS. 

where  tliej  have  grown  gray,  and  have  been  over- 
taken with  trouble  and  affliction,  and  have  lost  their 
children,  and  their  companion,  and  their  property,  and 
are  made  to  feel  their  poverty  and  their  need  of  God, 
and  they  lift  up  their  heart  beseechingly  to  him  in 
prayer,  and  the  answer  is  delayed,  and  they  give  way 
to  despair,  and  come  to  the  conclusion  that  God  will 
not  hear  them. 

Now,  there  is  nothing  that  so  belies  God  as  such  an 
imputation  as  this.  It  is  true  that  he  will  not  help 
anybody  to  sin,  but  anything  short  of  that  he  will  do. 
No  matter  how  deep  your  sin  is ;  no  matter  how  proud 
and  selfish  you  have  been ;  no  matter  how  sensual, 
how  cruel,  how  insincere,  how  sceptical  you  have 
been;  no  matter  how  mischievous  your  example  has 
been  to  other  men  ;  no  matter  if  you  have  ruled  with 
an  infidel  rule,  and  destroyed  thousands  of  souls,  —  it 
is  the  nature  of  God,  the  moment  you  feel  your  need 
of  him  and  turn  to  him  for  mercy,  to  have  mercy  on 
you. 

There  is  no  man,  therefore,  who  goes  to  God  saying, 
"  Help  me  to  be  free  from  sin,"  but  may  be  perfectly 
certain  that  God's  whole  nature  moves  toward  him, 
as  broad  and  irresistible  as  the  summer  moves  from 
the  south  toward  the  north.  If  you  go  to  God  and 
say,  "  Make  me  feel  right  while  I  am  sinning,"  he  will 
not.  But  if  you  feel  the  plague  of  pride,  of  selfishness, 
and  of  being  godless  in  this  world,  and  you  want 
somebody  to  help  you  out  of  your  unhappy  condition, 
I  do  not  object  to  your  going  to  your  minister  or  some 
friend ;  but,  first,  go  to  God.  He  is  the  best  Friend 
and  Pastor  and  Lover  that  the  soul  ever  had. 


PRAYING   FOR   OTHERS.  43 


PRAYING    FOR    OTHERS. 

REMEMBER  that,  when  I  first  heard  Mr. 
Finney  pray,  I  was  shocked  at  what  seemed 
to  me  the  unprayer-like  topics  that  he  in- 
troduced. I  had  been  so  accustomed  to 
generahties,  to  reverent,  wide-reaching  petitions,  or 
petitions  that  avoided  specialties,  that  when  he  prayed 
for  my  father  as  "  Dr.  Beecher,"  instead  of  "  the  pas- 
tor of  this  church,"  I  was  startled !  I  felt  as  though 
that  was  not  the  way  to  pray.  And  when  in  families 
he  prayed  for  individuals  by  name,  as  for  "  Caroline," 
or  "  William,"  I  could  not  but  feel  that  this  was  an 
irreverent  mode  of  prayer.  As  I  look  back  upon  it 
now,  and  recollect  my  thoughts  and  feelings,  I  can 
very  well  understand  how  persons  may  think  that  a 
prayer  is  irreverent  simply  because  it  is  familiar,  and 
because  it  is  particular  and  individual. 

To  be  sure,  there  is  to  be  good  judgment,  which 
always  carries  with  it  good  taste,  in  such  matters  ;  but 
our  prayers,  I  think,  would  be  far  better  if  they  did 
express  definite  thoughts,  or  definite  feelings,  or  defi- 
nite desires.  And  on  this  occasion  I  wish  to  call  your 
attention  to  one  specialty  in  prayer  that  I  think  does 
not  abound,  and  that  I  think  we  might  all  of  us  culti- 
vate with  great  benefit.  I  mean  the  habit  of  praying, 
according  to  the  apostolic  command,  one  for  another. 
We  arc  not  loft  in  doubt  as  respects  the  example  of 
the  apostles.      Tlicy  prayed  always,  with  all  prayer, 


44  LECTURE-KOOM   TALKS. 

;  for  the  different  cluirclies.     There  is  reason  to  believe 
,  that  the  Apostle  Paul  used  to  take  one  church  after 
I  another,  and  spread  the  case  of  different  persons,  and 
^  their  wants,  before  God,  as  their  various  circumstances 
rose  up  in  his  mind ;  so  that  he  felt,  when  he  wrote 
to  the  churches,  that  he  wrote  to  a  large  body  of  the 
brethren  whose  necessity  he  had  canvassed  spiritually, 
and  whom  he  had  presented  often  and  often  before 
God.     Nor  are  we  at  liberty  to  doubt  that  he  derived 
this  practice  from  the  Master's  example.    "  Satan  hath 
desired  to  have  thee,"  said  Christ  to  Peter,  "  that  he 
may  sift  thee  as  wheat ;  but  I  have  prayed  for  thee, 
\)  that  thy  faith  fail  not."     Here  was  a  foresight  of  the 
danger  of  the  apostle  ;  and  here  was,  also,  the  state- 
ment that  a  man  was  made  a  special  object  of  prayer 
by  the  Redeemer.     Then  there  is  the  example  of  many 
holy  men  whose   lives  are  a  gospel  to  us,  and  who 
had  this  habit  of  praying  for  individuals. 

In  the  first  place,  the  question  will  arise  in  your 
minds,  whether  it  is  necessary  to  do  more  than  pray 
for  everybody  in  general. 

General  well-wishing  is  very  well ;  but  it  does  not 
supersede  the  necessity  for  special  acts  of  kindness  in 
the  way  of  affection  or  in  the  way  of  devotion.  So  it 
is  not  enough  to  pray  for  a  family.  There  are  times 
when  the  individuals  of  a  family  should  come  up  in 
remembrance  before  us.  It  seems  to  me  that  parents, 
for  instance,  should  take  each  cliild,  and  make  that 
child  a  subject  of  prayer.  When  we  pray  for  our 
children  separately,  it  is  not  necessary  that  they  should 
know  it.  The  father  does  not  tell  the  child  how  much 
money  he  is  laying  up  for  him,  or  how  much  he  means 


PRAYING  FOR   OTHERS.  45 

to  do  for  liiin.  There  are  a  thousand  joys  and  fears 
which  relate  to  tlie  child,  that  the  father  says  nothing 
about.  And  while  it  is  not  necessary  that  we  should 
tell  our  children  how  much  spiritual  treasure  we  lay 
up  in  heaven  for  them,  they  ought  yet  to  be  well 
prayed  for.  They  ought  to  be  well  endowed  where 
treasures  are  never  stolen  or  lost.  And  it  is  incon- 
ceivable what  a  depth  and  delicacy  it  gives  to  a  par- 
ent's affection,  to  habitually  bring  the  children  of  the 
family,  with  their  individual  dispositions,  weaknesses, 
and  faults,  before  God,  and  plead  for  them. 

One  part  of  the  influence  exerted  in  this  matter  will  f 
be  exerted  upon  ourselves.  We  shall  very  soon  see  y 
what  an  awful  and  abominable  pit  Christian  people 
are  accustomed  to  live  in.  And  when  I  think  of  the 
way  in  which  people  talk  of  each  other,  and  even 
Christian  people,  there  is  nothing  that  seems  to  me 
more  horrible.  I  know  not  to  what  circumstance  I  ^ 
owe  it,  but  from  early  life  I  conceived  the  utmost  re- 
pugnance to  what  is  called  "  tattling  "  ;  and  it  affects 
me  now  with  a  kind  of  cold  shudder  to  hear  people 
talk  about  each  other.  There  may  be  an  innocent 
conversation,  badinage,  or  something  of  that  kind  ; 
but  I  mean  the  low,  the  wOrse  than  unkind,  way  in 
which  we  are  accustomed  to  look  at  others,  and  pick 
flaws  in  their  character,  and  criticise  their  disposition, 
judging  them  in  the  lowest  possible  court  of  the  mind. 
But  if  you  are  in  the  habit  of  talking  to  God  concern- 
ins  them,  to  think  of  tlieir  wickedness  as  immortal 
creatures,  and  to  consider  that  they  are  journeying 
toward  heaven  like  yourself,  and  that  they  have  this 
or  that  impediment  that  you  have   excused,  this   or 


46  LECTURE-ROOM   TALKS. 

that  evil  course  that  you  have  extenuated,  this  or 
that  transgression  that  you  have  made  the  subject  of 
pleading,  —  if  you  are  in  the  habit,  in  other  words, 
of  dissecting  those  persons'  history  in  the  light  of 
God's  countenance,  and  striving  to  obtain  God's  for- 
giveness in  their  behalf,  then,  in  the  solemnity  of  such 
circumstances,  you  will  sympathize  with  them,  and 
refrain  from  speaking  of  them  in  a  damaging  way. 
To  indulge  habitually  in  stinging  and  ungenerous 
remarks  of  each  other  must  result  in  lowering  the 
Christian  tone  of  your  own  minds  and  in  degrading 
your  own  thoughts.  But  the  habit  of  taking  each 
other  before  God  in  prayer,  familiarly  and  by  name, 
is  a  habit  that  I  think  is  eminently  beneficial,  —  in 
the  first  place,  to  yourselves.  It  will  cleanse  you. 
It  will  sweeten  your  disposition.  It  will  take  away 
from  you  every  particle  of  the  raven,  that  loves  to 
feed  on  carrion. 

Then  the  question  will  arise.  What  will  it  do  for  the 
persons  for  whom  you  pray  ?  Well,  it  is  not  to  be 
supposed  that  everything  we  ask  will  be  granted  ;  but 
I  think  I  am  on  safe  ground  when  I  say  that  earnest 
and  sincere  prayers  for  others  are  more  likely  to  be 
answered  than  prayers  offered  for  our  own  selves.  Let 
us  look  a  little  at  this. 

If  one  of  your  children  should  come  to  you  begging 
for  fruit,  or  for  some  article  for  his  own  personal  grat- 
ification, you  might  be  disposed  to  grant  it  to  him ; 
but  suppose  one  of  them  should  come  to  you  and  plead 
for  another  child,  and  tell  what  his  troubles  were,  ex- 
plaining why  he  ought  to  be  indulged,  would  not  the 
generosity  of  the  child  open  your  heart  ?     Would  you 


PRAYING   FOR   OTHERS.  47 

not  feel  a  double  obligation  to  grant  the  request,  first, 
because  the  thing  was  proper  for  the  child,  and  sec- 
ond, because  it  pleased  you  to  have  this  disinterested 
importunity  ?  And,  when  we  come  before  God,  he 
loves,  without  doubt,  to  hear  us  plead  for  our  own 
wants,  —  for  wants  are  not  necessarily  selfish  because 
they  are  sought  for  one's  self ;  but  when  we  plead  for 
others  there  is  an  element  of  magnanimity,  there  is  a 
grace,  in  it,  which  God,  it  seems  to  me,  must  love 
and  be  more  inclined  to  favor  than  petitions  in  our 
own  behalf. 

Things  that  are  emergent,  things  that  are  indispen- 
sable, —  succor,  relief,  rescue  from  destruction,  —  God 
hears  prayer  for  these  things  ;  but  I  think  God  is 
accustomed  to  hear  prayer  for  things  that  are  not  so 
outwardly  and  apparently  needful,  —  for  the  higher 
elements  of  Christian  character  ;  for  the  endowing  of 
ourselves  with  sentiments.  "When  we  plead  for  per- 
sons that  are  hungry,  that  they  may  have  bread  ;  or  for 
persons  that  are  sick,  that  they  may  be  restored  to 
health,  —  that  is  well;  but  when  we  pray  for  the 
growth  of  the  soul,  that  humility  may  be  more  golden 
in  its  shades,  that  love  may  be  more  radiant  in  its 
higher  lights,  that  faith  may  be  more  crystalline  and 
far-reaching,  and  that  there  may  bo  a  refinement  of 
piety  and  a  delicacy  of  religion,  I  think  God  loves 
to  hear  our  supplications. 

Well  now,  because  we  cannot  measure  it,  it  does 
not  follow  that  therefore  we  should  undervalue  the 
effect  of  the  fervent  prayer  of  the  righteous  for  other 
men.  Indeed,  there  is  something  in  the  not  being 
able  to  measure  it  that  ought  to  be   witching   and 


48  LECTURE-ROOM  TALKS. 

luring  to  this  exercise  of  prayer.  We  have  heard  it 
said  that  there  are  some  men  who  have  the  power  of 
affecting  the  will  of  other  people,  even  when  they  are 
separated  from  them,  in  another  room,  or  house,  or 
street,  or  town,  even.  I  do  not  undertake  to  say  how 
that  may  be  ;  I  apprehend,  however,  that  there  is  not  as 
yet  much  benefit  in  it,  if  it  is  a  fact ;  but  there  is  one 
kind  of  biology  —  or,  if  you  please  to  call  it  so,  mes- 
merism —  about  which  there  is  no  doubt.  Whether 
you  can  affect  the  mind  of  another  person  directly  or 
not,  you  can  indirectly.  You  can,  by  pleading  with 
God,  get  a  hold  upon  every  individual  whom  you  love, 
or  for  whom  your  sympathies  are  excited.  And  you 
cannot  tell,  while  you  are  pleading  with  this  Fountain 
of  benevolence,  while  you  are  drawing  supplies  from 
this  treasure-house  of  God's  soul,  what  are  the  possi- 
bilities of  blessing  that  await  those  for  whom  you 
pray.  This  is,  of  course,  a  matter  to  be  regulated. 
I  could  not,  very  well,  pray  for  every  one  in  my 
church,  and  yet  I  often  pray  for  individuals.  On 
some  sabbaths  my  mind  runs  on  persons  who  stand 
as  representatives  of  a  class.  You  cannot  pray  for 
everybody  ;  but  the  habit  of  daily  making  petitions 
for  particular  individuals,  —  the  teacher  for  his  class  ; 
parents  for  their  children  ;  brothers  and  sisters  for 
each  other ;  missionaries  for  those  that  they  are  to 
visit  and  labor  with,  —  this  habit,  I  think,  will  be  one 
of  various  blessings  both  to  you  and  those'  with  whom 
you  have  to  do.  I  recollect  hearing  my  father  speak 
of  a  case. 

He  went  to  see  a  poor  woman  in  East  Hampton, 
when  she  mourned  to  him  because  she  was  so  useless. 


PRAYING   FOR   OTHERS.  49 

She  was  bedridden.  She  had  not  been  for  many- 
weeks,  or  months,  or  years,  perliaps,  to  chnrch  ;  and 
there  she  lay.  "  Useless  ?  "  he  said  ;  "  0  no,  you 
are  the  most  useful  woman  in  my  congregation." 
"  Why,  Dr.  Beecher !  what  do  you  mean  ?  "  said  she. 
"  I  know,"  he  said,  "  that  you  are  praying  for  me 
all  the  time,  and  I  think  the  Lord  hears  your 
prayers  ;  and  it  does  me  more  good  to  have  persons 
talk  to  God  for  me  than  to  have  them  talk  ivith  me." 
"  Well,"  said  sho,  "  I  da  pray  for  you  every  single 
day.  And  that  is  not  all,  I  pray  for  all  the  folks.  I 
go  into  one  house,  and  pray  for  all  that  are  there  ; 
and  then  I  go  to  the  next  house,  and  ])ray  for  all  that 
are  there."  (It  was  an  old-fashioned  village,  where 
everybody  knew  everybody.)  "  I  pray,"  she  said, 
"  down  one  side  of  the  street,  and  up  the  other 
side  ;  and  then,  if  I  am  not  too  tired,  I  go  over  the 
whole  ground  again."  And  father  very  well  said  that 
she  was  the  most  useful  person  he  had  in  his  society. 
I  believe  there  are  many  that  do  not  pray  in  public 
meetings,  and  that  are  scarcely  known  to  the  officers 
of  the  church  or  to  many  of  the  members,  who  are 
living  a  life  of  silent  prayer  and  of  faith  ;  and  I  be- 
lieve that  many  of  tliose  blessings  that  seem  to  come 
from  the  hand  of  the  pastor,  or  from  the  outward 
ministration  of  Christ's  gospel,  have  been  engineered 
and  prepared  for  disclosure  by  the  fidelity  of  humble 
praying  ones  whom  God  will  reveal  in  the  day  of 
judgment. 


LECTURE-ROOM   TALKS. 


ANSWEES    TO    PRAYER. 

OME  remarks  wliich  I  made  a  few  weeks 
since  in  reply  to  a  letter  from  a  lady,  who, 
by  reason  of  a  rash  imprecation  that  she 
had  made,  had  for  a  great  many  years  felt 
herself  shut  out  from  the  mercy  of  God,  answered, 
when  she  received  them,  every  desired  effect.  They 
entirely  rolled  back  the  cloud  from  her  mind,  and 
began  to  bring  peace  and  rest  to  her  soul.  This 
lady,  in  writing  to  me  the  fact,  added  an  expression 
of  surprise  that  God  should  have  permitted  her,  when 
she  prayed  so  earnestly  for  light,  so  long  to  go  mis- 
taken and  deceived  in  such  a  way.  And  it  so  hap- 
pened that,  at  the  same  time  her  letter  came,  I  i"e- 
ceived  a  response  to  a  private  note  that  I  had  written 
to  another  person,  who  was  in  difficulty  on  a  religious 
subject,  assuring  me  that  she  had  found  relief  and 
comfort,  and  containing  a  not  dissimilar  expression 
of  surprise  that  God  would  permit  one  of  his  dis- 
ciples to  suffer  so  long  for  the  want  of  a  little  light, 
for  which  she  had  devoutly  prayed.  And  it  occur- 
red to  me  that  it  might  be  profitable  to  spend  a  few 
moments  in  looking  at  this  matter. 

I  do  not  undertake  to  interpret  the  methods  of 
God  ;  and,  certainly,  I  do  not  undertake  to  limit 
God's  sovereignty.  I  do  most  firmly  believe  that  God 
is  at  liberty  to  exercise  direct  and  efficient  power  over 
us  by,  or  in  spite  of,  natural  laws.     But,  on  the  other 


ANSWERS   TO   PRAYER.  *  51 

hand,  there  can  be  no  doubt,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  and 
as  a  matter  of  implication  in  the  New  Testament,  that 
God  prefers  to  administer  in  his  moral  kingdom  by  the 
operation  of  stated  laws,  just  as  he  does  in  the  phys- 
ical kingdom ;  and  that  the  road  to  blessings  in  the 
moral  kingdom  of  God  is  through  an  intelligent  obe- 
dience to  natural  moral  laws,  just  as  in  secular  things 
the  road  to  any  result  is  through  a  knowledge  of  natu- 
ral physical  laws,  and  an  obedience  to  them. 

Suppose  that  one  who,  having  been  almost  starved, 
and  having  struggled  with  starvation  through  the 
whole  summer,  praying,  every  day,  "  Give  me  my 
daily  bread,"  should,  in  October,  discover  that  there 
were  esculent,  nutritious  roots  growing  abundantly  in 
the  edge  of  a  wilderness  near  by,  and  should  say  :  "  It 
seems  very  strange  to  me  that  I  should  have  been  suf- 
fered to  want  for  food,  when  I  prayed,  day  and  night, 
'  Give  me  my  daily  bread,'  and  when  these  roots  were 
within  my  reach,  if  I  had  only  known  where  to  go  for 
them.  Why  did  not  God  tell  me?"— you  would 
smile.  Suppose  a  person  should  say,  "  Here  I  have 
been  shaking  with  chills  and  fever  for  weeks  and 
months,  and  all  the  time  there  has  been  this  Peruvian 
Bark  next  door,  with  which  I  might  have  cured  my- 
self, if  I  had  known  that  it  would  cure  me  ;  but  I  did 
not  know  it,  though  I  constantly  prayed  God  to  cure 
me."  You  would  say,  at  once,  "No  prayer  will 
ever  bring  you  medicine.  You  must  know  that  it 
exists,  and  then  apply  it,  in  obedience  to  natural  laws, 
or  it  will  not  meet  your  case." 

Go  further.  Did  you  ever  know  a  person  that 
could  pray  down  an  arithmetic  ?     Did  you  ever  know 


52  •  LECTURE-ROOM   TALKS. 

a  person  who,  going  to  school,  and  finding  himself 
puzzled  by  a  tough  problem,  could  get  it  solved  by- 
asking  God  to  solve  it  for  him  ?  Did  you  ever  know 
anybody  to  accomplish  anything  intellectually  ex- 
cept by  legitimate  head-work?  We  know  that  if  a 
man  wants  to  do  anything  in  physics  or  mental  cul- 
ture, he  must  apply  himself  to  it  according  to  the 
laws  of  those  departments.  In  otlier  words,  we  must 
find  out  the  appointed  means  of  obtaining  the  things 
that  we  seek,  and  apply  them ;  and  no  amount  of 
effort,  ordinarily  speaking,  will  bring  us  to  the  desired 
end,  unless  we  use  those  means  ;  so  that  the  finding 
out  what  those  means  are,  is  as  important  as  their  ap- 
plication when  they  have  been  found  out. 

Is  it  so  morally  ?  Yes ;  and  nothing  shows  it 
plainer  than  the  history  of  the  church  and  good  men. 
A  man  may  live  in  needless  suffering  for  forty  years, 
praying  to  God  every  day,  and  finding  no  relief,  if 
God  has  made  provision  for  his  relief  in  natural  law, 
while  he  just  prays,  and  does  nothing  more.  A  brother 
in  this  church  suffered  untold  agony  from  depression 
of  spirits,  and  prayed  against  it  long  and  vehemently, 
until,  at  last,  finding  a  skilful  physician,  he  obtained 
the  appropriate  remedy,  and  got  well.  There  are 
persons  who,  though  they  are  sincere  and  earnest, 
have  such  erroneous  views  of  God  that  they  intercept 
the  law  of  divine  favor  in  its  action  on  the  mind,  and 
all  the  prayers  in  the  world  will  not  make  them  happy 
until  they  rectify  those  views. 

You  will  ask,  "  Then,  is  prayer  in  such  a  case  use- 
less ?  "  No,  I  think  not.  I  can  conceive  that,  though 
it  does  not  bring  the  answer  directly,  it  may  be  pre- 


ANSWERS   TO   PRAYER.  53 

paring  one  to  get  the  answer  in  some  other  way.  For 
example,  a  woman  prays  for  the  conversion  of  lier  hus- 
band, under  the  impression  that  God  will  answer  her 
prayer  outright.  She  prays  all  the  week,  with  the 
general  impression  that  all  she  has  to  do  is  to  perse- 
vere in  prayer.  But,  as  she  is  true,  honest,  and  sin- 
cere, going  before  God  and  praying  retroacts  upon  her 
disposition,  and  affects  her,  and  makes  her  more  heav- 
enly, and  deepens  her  affection  for  her  husband,  whom 
she  is  thinking  of  in  the  very  highest  relations,  and 
makes  her  family  life  more  exemplary.  And,  al- 
though God  does  not  convert  the  man  directly,  by 
praying,  and  praying,  and  praying  she  is  made  better, 
and  better,  and  better.  And,  meanwhile,  the  mau 
says  :  "  "Well,  my  Mary  is  a  saint,  if  there  is  one. 
She  wants  I  should  go  to  those  meetings.  I  do  not 
care  for  the  meetings  ;  but  I  will  go  to  please  her. 
She  feels  that  somebody  ought  to  pray  for  the  chil- 
dren. I  do  not  have  that  feeling  myself;  but  for  her 
sake  I  will  treat  it  with  respect."  And  such  thoughts 
as  these  run  through  his  mind.  So  her  patience 
and  gentleness  and  goodness,  augmented  by  prayer, 
acting  upon  him,  at  last  produce  a  state  of  mind  in 
him  which  is  favorable  to  his  conversion,  and  he  is 
converted.  Thus  her  prayer  was  answered,  though 
it  was  answered  not  at  all  as  she  expected  it  would 
be,  but  indirectly,  her  own  life  being  made  an  instru- 
ment of  her  husband's  conversion. 

The  lady  of  whom  I  spoke  at  the  outset  of  these 
remarks  had  been  praying  for  eighteen  or  twenty 
years,  and  was  at  last  led  to  write  to  me,  and  lay  her 
case  before  me  ;  and,  being  in  that  state  in  wdiich  her 


54  LECTURE-ROOM   TALKS. 

case  was  susceptible  of  being  remedied  by  the  instru- 
mentality of  the  truth,  now  that  the  truth  is  presented 
to  her  she  emerges  from  darkness  into  light.  And 
who  shall  say  that,  although  God  did  not  directly 
answer  her  prayer,  it  has  not  been  answered  through 
the  mediation  of  the  truth,  and  according  to  natural 
moral  laws  ? 

You  will  ask  me,  perhaps,  "  Ought  we  not  to  pray 
for  direct  spiritual  gifts  ?  "  Yes,  I  think  we  ought ; 
but  I  think  that  whenever  a  man  asks  God  for  any 
spiritual  gift,  the  next  step  should  be  to  ask :  "  Have 
I  not  asked  God  for  something  that  I  can  get  myself  ? 
Have  I  not  asked  God  for  something  that  he  has  made 
provision  to  give  me  in  an  indirect  way  ?  " 

Suppose  I  should  go  to  God  and  say,  "  Lord,  be 
pleased  to  give  me  salad,"  he  would  point  to  the 
garden,  and  say :  "There  is  the  place  to  get  salad; 
and  if  you  are  too  lazy  to  work  for  it,  I  shall  not  give 
it  to  you."  Suppose,  standing  by  a  crab-apple  tree,  I 
should  say,  "  Lord,  give  me  pippins  on  this  tree," 
he  would  say,  "  Certainly,  if  you  will  graft  it."  And 
if  I  grafted  the  tree  I  would  get  the  pippins.  If  I 
neglected  to  do  it,  I  would  not  get  them. 

Prayer  is  often  an  argument  of  laziness.  For 
instance,  a  person  finds  that  his  temper  is  a  source  of 
great  trouble  to  him  ;  and  if  you  divest  his  prayer  of 
its  reverential  character,  it  amounts  to  about  this  : 
"  Lord,  my  temper  gives  me  a  vast  deal  of  inconven- 
ience, and  it  would  be  a  great  task  for  me  to  correct  it, 
and  wilt  thou  be  pleased  to  correct  it  for  me,  that  I 
may  get  along  easier  ? "  If  prayer  was  answered 
under  such  circumstances,  independent  of  the  action 


ANSWERS   TO   PRAYER.  55 

of  natural  laws,  it  would  be  paying  a  premium  on 
indolence.  If,  therefore,  a  thing  is  accessible  to  a 
person  ;  if,  by  proper  exertion  or  inquiry,  he  can  com- 
pass it  himself,  it  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  God  will 
turn  aside  from  those  natural  laws  by  which  he  has 
made  provision  for  the  supply  of  this  very  want,  to 
give  it  to  the  man  in  a  special  manner. 

You  will  ask  me,  "  Are  there  any  circumstances  in 
whicli  God  may  be  disposed  to  do  such  a  thing  ?  " 
I  am  inclined  to  think  that  there  are.  I  can  imagine 
how  he  might  do  it  in  the  case  of  one  who  was  placed 
beyond  tlie  reach  of  those  instrumentalities  which 
alone  could  enable  him  to  avail  himself  of  blessings 
that  ordinarily  men  could  obtain  by  their  own  exer- 
tions. An  angel  was  sent  to  release  Peter  from  prison ; 
but  if  Peter  had  had  a  pass-key  in  his  pocket,  and  had 
had  the  power  to  use  it  for  his  own  release,  I  do  not 
believe  an  angel  would  have  been  sent  to  release  him. 
When  Paul  and  Silas  were  praying  and  singing  in 
prison,  an  earthquake  was  sent  that  shook  open  the 
doors  and  set  them  free  ;  but  if  they  had  had  files  and 
saws,  and  could  have  set  themselves  free,  I  do  not 
believe  they  would  have  got  their  liberty  by  any  other 
means.  I  can  understand  how  special  answers  to 
prayer  might  be  granted  to  those  in  slave-life.  I 
do  not  refer  to  its  toils  and  exactions,  but  to  its 
deprivations.  Consider  how  the  slave  was  not  per- 
mitted to  read  the  word  of  God ;  how  only  now  and 
then  a  detached  morsel  of  the  Gospel  was  vouch- 
safed to  him  ;  and  how  lie  was  kept  in  twilight  so 
far  as  the  outward  forms  of  truth  are  concerned.  In 
view  of  these  things,  it  is  not  unreasonable  to  presume 


56  LECTURE-ROOM   TALKS. 

that  God  would  answer  the  prayers  of  slaves  as  he 
would  not  answer  the  prayers  of  those  who  were  more 
highly  favored.  I  can  understand  that  God  might  do 
for  little  children,  since  natural  laws  are  beyond  their 
reach,  what  he  would  not  do  for  grown  folks.  The 
same  reason  that  led  God  to  work  miracles  in  earlier 
periods  leads  him  to  answer  prayers  for  blessings  for 
which  there  is  a  provision  made  in  natural  laws,  in 
cases  such  as  I  have  enumerated. 

I  do  not  say  that  he  does  it  every  day ;  but  I  meet 
cases  that  look  exactly  as  if  he  were  doing  it.  I  meet 
cases  in  which  it  seems  as  tliough  the  Lord  said  :  "  If 
this  had  been  a  wliite  man,  I  would  not  have  answered 
that  prayer  so ;  I  did  it  becaiise  it  was  a  poor  black 
man,  who  could  not  know  how  to  help  himself."  And 
the  law  for  you  is  obvious  ;  that  your  prayer  must  be 
accompanied  with  investigation  and  activity,  and  that 
you  must  earn  what  you  pray  for. 

This  is  all  on  the  supposition  that  prayer  means 
asking  for  particular  things ;  but  when  you  come  to 
reflect  tliat  prayer  means  confession  of  sin,  and  com- 
munion, how  broad  do  you  find  it  to  be,  outside  of  the 
department  of  supplication,  which  is  the  smallest  part, 
although  it  is  usually  regarded  as  the  largest ! 


CONVERSING   WITH  THE   IMPENITENT.  57 


DUTY  OF  CONVERSING  WITH    IMPENITENT 
SINNERS. 

STRANGER  who  addressed  the  meeting 
said  it  seemed  to  him,  that,  on  the  Friday 
evening  previous,  Mr.  Beecher,  in  speaking 
of  the  duty  of  conversation  with  impenitent 
sinners,  left  the  impression  on  some  minds  that  he  did 
not  regard  it  as  a  matter  of  much  importance.  Mr. 
Beecher  responded  as  follows  :  — 

My  position  here  is  that  of  a  teacher,  and  not  merely 
that  of  an  exhorter.  I  have  been  conscious  of  the 
errors  of  others  in  giving  indiscriminate  exhortations  ; 
and  it  has  been  a  tendency  of  mine,  therefore,  to  take 
occasion,  when  any  truth  was  offered,  not  so  much  to 
enforce  the  thing  that  was  obvious,  and  that  had  been 
correctly  stated,  as  to  add  the  next  view,  or  some  side- 
view,  or  whatever  explanations  and  discriminations 
might  be  needed,  to  broaden  the  knowledge  of  Chris- 
tians and  make  it  various. 

There  is  an  endless  field  of  instruction  here,  and  I 
doubtless  have  sometimes  seemed  to  undervalue  a 
truth  that  I  thoroughly  valued  ;  but  it  has  only  been 
because  some  co-related  truth  has,  for  the  time  being, 
seemed  to  require  that  prominence  should  be  given  to 
it.  And  it  may  be,  as  this  gentleman  says,  that  I  left 
the  impression  of  undervaluing  the  privilege  of  per- 
sonal and  religious  conversation  ;  but  it  certainly  was 
not  because  I  really  do  undervalue  it,  for  I  put  the 
highest  value  upon  it. 

3* 


58  LECTURE- ROOM   TALKS. 

Yet  there  is  a  class  of  men  that  wc  often  meet,  who 
might  he  called,  not  so  much  religious  talkers  as  re- 
ligious chatterers.  I  have  myself  suffered  from  their 
inflictions.  Men  they  are,  who,  when  they  talk,  go 
off  like  a  watchman's  rattle,  and  with  a  sound  as  dry 
and  sharp.  I  have  been  in  revivals  of  religion  where 
the  whole  instruction  seemed  to  run  on  the  duty  of 
talking  with  impenitents,  till  it  seemed  as  if  the 
whole  duty  of  Christians  consisted  in  hunting  up  sin- 
ners and  running  them  down  with  talk.  Not  that  it 
was  not  a  duty  to  talk ;  but  all  other  things  were  left 
out  of  view,  and  there  was  not  sufficient  breadth  and 
qualification  given  to  the  teaching. 

Now,  in  the  first  place,  I  do  not  think  it  to  be  every- 
body's duty  to  talk.  I  think  that  God's  gifts  in  crea- 
tion are  as  manifest  as  God's  gifts  in  the  pentecostal 
day,  when  some  had  the  gift  of  language,  others  the 
gift  of  interpretation,  others  the  gift  of  teaching,  and 
others  the  gift  of  exhortation.  There  are  many  per- 
sons, I  suppose,  who,  in  going  to  speak  to  other  persons 
on  the  subject  of  religion,  go  directly  across  the  grain 
of  their  nature.  And  yet  they  have  eminent  gifts  of 
usefulness  in  other  directions.  I  do  not  say  that  per- 
sons should  not  overcome  their  repugnance  to  con- 
versing with  others  on  this  subject ;  but  they  should 
not  do  that  to  the  neglect  of  those  instruments  that 
are  strongest  in  them.  There  are  other  persons  who 
are  pre-eminently  ordained  in  their  nature  and  birth 
for  conversation.  I  remember  some  men  now  who 
were  almost  never  without  conversation  ;  and  I  may 
almost  say  I  never  remember  to  have  heard  them  talk 
unedifyingly. 


CONVERSING   WITH   THE   IMPENITENT.  59 

Our  attention  is  called  in  Scripture  to  religious  ex- 
ercises that  are  for  religious  edification  ;  and  he  who 
finds  that  he  has  power  to  build  a  man  up  by  his  talk- 
ing has  a  usefulness  that  is  to  be  neither  neglected 
nor  put  in  a  napkin.  Some  persons  have  such  an  in- 
sight into  people,  they  have  such  a  sense  of  times  and 
seasons,  they  have  such  a  power  of  putting  the  truth 
in  an  available  form,  that  men  can  take  it  without 
hesitation,  and  digest  it,  as  it  were.  There  are  un- 
ordained  men  that  are  ordained  of  God  from  their 
birth  to  be  teachers  in  this  way. 

Many  persons  say,  "  If  I  had  the  gift  of  eloquence, 
and  could  stand  up  and  speak,  I  think  I  would  give 
everything  in  the  world."  I  would  have  all  such 
persons  understand,  that  while,  if  they  are  able  to 
speak  to  edification,  they  should  do  it,  that  is  not  the 
only  way  in  which  a  man  can  be  useful.  Because  a 
man  cannot  talk  or  pray  to  edification  publicly,  it  does 
not  follow  that  he  cannot  make  his  contribution  to  the 
cause  of  God.  There  are  ways  in  which  silence  is 
most  effectual,  and  example  is  most  influential.  Those 
are  not  the  only  useful  men  who  have  gifts  of  speak- 
ing. There  are  various  ways  in  which  men  may  be 
useful  without  prejudice  to  the  gift  of  speaking  and 
without  imdervaluing  our  duty  in  regard  to  it.  I  want 
you  to  understand  that  you  have  a  duty  of  conversa- 
tion. And  I  add  to  it,  that  if  you  have  no  remark- 
able power  in  that  direction,  it  does  not  necessarily 
take  away  from  you  the  privilege  of  usefulness.  There 
are  other  ways  of  doing  good.  Silence  ;  example ;  a 
spirit  of  Christ,  that  hardly  knows  how  to  vocalize  it- 
self, and  that  yet  pervades  the  features,  and  makes 


60  LECTURE-ROOM   TALKS. 

itself  felt  in  all  that  tlie  man  does  who  is  possessed  by 
it,  —  you  will  find  in  the  judgment-day  that  these  were 
sowing  seed  all  the  time.  Not,  however,  that,  if  you 
can  speak,  you  should  speak  less,  but  that,  if  you  can- 
not speak,  you  should  not  think  that  you  cannot  work 
in  the  Master's  vineyard. 

An  ingenuous  and  modest  young  person,  that  speaks 
to  another  person  on  the  subject  of  religion,  often  takes 
up  a  heavier  cross,  and  practises  a  greater  self-denial, 
than  many  others  would  in  making  a  pilgrimage  to 
Jerusalem.  I  know  it,  because  I  have  gone  through 
it.  You  would  not  think  it  from  the  facility  and  ease 
with  which  I  speak  now,  from  long  practice  ;  but  so  it 
was.  I  recollect  when  I  first  tried  to  do  my  Christian 
duty.  I  remember  when  I  was  first  asked  to  lead  in 
prayer.  If  all  the  air  between  heaven  and  me  had 
been  put  under  the  piston  of  a  condenser,  and  crowded 
right  down  on  my  head,  I  should  not  have  felt  more 
as  though  I  was  suffocating !  I  gasped,  literally,  and 
said,  "  No,  sir."  I  felt  awfully.  I  was  perfectly  par- 
alyzed. And  then,  when  a  teacher  of  mine  was  asked 
next  to  pray,  and,  with  a  sort  of  gentle  submission,  said, 
"  I  will  try,"  and  knelt  down  and  made  a  prayer, 
that  was  worse  than  all  to  me.  For  I  had  known  his 
history.  He  had  been  a  poor  hostler's  boy  in  Canada. 
Professor  Davies  found  him  a  boot-black  and  an  hos- 
tler, and  in  making  change  he  showed  such  an  aptitude 
for  arithmetic,  and  in  reply  to  questions  gave  tokens 
of  such  an  arithmetical  gift,  that  the  Professor  became 
interested  in  him,  and  hired  him  for  a  servant.  He 
subsequently  had  him  appointed  at  West  Point,  where 
he  remained  until  he  was  turned  away  on  account  of 


CONVERSING   WITH  THE  IMPENITENT.  61 

a  Christmas  frolic.  He  was  afterwards  my  teacher. 
I  owe  much  to  him.  He  is  still  living.  I  said  to  my- 
self: "  Here  is  a  minister's  son,  who  has  all  his  life  long 
been  under  Christian  instruction,  and  he  is  asked  to 
pray,  and  he  won't ;  and  here  is  a  poor  boy  that  never 
had  any  Christian  instruction  in  his  early  days,  that 
never  had  any  father  or  mother  that  he  knew  any- 
thing about,  and  he  is  asked  to  make  a  prayer,  and 
he  turns  round  and  makes  it !  "  It  almost  killed  me. 
1  look  back  without  reproach  upon  it.  I  do  not  think 
I  did  wrong.     It  was  all  perfectly  natural. 

But  the  next  time  I  went  having  my  nerves  strained 
up,  and  saying,  "  If  they  ask  me  to  pray,  I  will 
pray."  And  if  I  had  had  to  choose  between  being 
whipped  with  thirty-nine  lashes  and  making  that 
prayer,  I  think  I  should  have  said,  "  Give  me  the 
thirty-nine  lashes."  If  it  had  been  a  choice  between 
being  put  upon  bread  and  water  in  close  confinement 
for  a  week,  and  making  that  prayer,  I  should  have 
said,  "  Give  me  close  confinement  and  bread  and 
water."  I  suffered  greatly  in  spirit.  I  was  acutely 
sensitive  to  conscience,  to  praise  and  blame,  to  shame, 
to  pride,  and  all  of  them  were  running  wild  in  my 
mind,  like  so  many  colts  in  an  open  pasture-lot. 

I  recollect,  afterwards,  undertaking  to  talk  to  a 
man  on  the  subject  of  religion.  He  was  a  regular 
engineer,  and  it  would  not  have  been  half  so  much 
for  him  to  have  stormed  Fort  Fisher  as  it  was  for  me 
to  confront  him.  I  felt  as  though  I  was  not  half  as 
big  as  he  was,  and  that,  if  he  turned  on  me  suddenly, 
I  should  be  annihilated  !  I  crept  up  to  him  cau- 
tiously, tremblingly,  and  in  a  way  that  I  am  sure 


62  LECTURE-ROOM   TALKS. 

excited  his  compassion ;  and  he  treated  me  with 
compassion,  yes,  with  pity,  evidently.  Yet  I  felt  that 
I  had  done  my  duty.  It  is  sometimes  very  hard  for  a 
person  to  take  up  his  cross  and  do  what  he  thinks  to 
be  his  duty. 

For  instance,  it  is  hard  to  talk  on  the  subject  of 
religion  to  those  who  are  in  our  own  family.  It  is 
exceedingly  hard  for  a  wife  to  speak  to  her  husband. 
It  is  equally  hard  for  a  husband  to  speak  to  his  wife. 
Not  in  all  cases,  but  in  some  cases  ;  and  in  some 
cases  it  is  harder  than  in  others.  It  is  very  difficult 
for  many  parents  to  speak  to  their  children.  It  is  so 
in  my  case.  I  can  talk  to  your  children  ;  but  when 
it  comes  to  my  own,  I  feel  a  delicacy  and  reserve  that 
is  almost  insuperable.  If  they  come  to  me  and  pro- 
pose questions,  it  takes  almost  all  the  difficulty  away  ; 
but  I  almost  never  speak  to  them  unless  they  desire 
it.  I  hardly  ever  speak  to  very  intimate  friends  on 
the  subject  of  personal  religion  unless  they  open  the 
way  for  it.  The  nearer  I  come  to  any  one,  the  more 
I  feel  that,  on  the  ground  of  honor,  I  have  no  right  to 
thrust  an  unwelcome  subject  upon  them,  or  to  draw 
them  to  thoughts  that  they  do  not  want  me  to  draw 
them  to.  It  may  be  carried  too  far  ;  but  there  is  an 
element  of  honor  and  delicacy  here  that  is  not  to  be 
unappreciated. 

The  young  feel  it  more,  perhaps,  than  those  who 
are  in  later  life  :  not  because  they  are  young,  but 
because  they  have  not  the  judgment  and  experience 
to  enable  them  to  discriminate  in  regard  to  times  and 
seasons.  As  we  grow  older,  we  know  what  is  right, 
and  become  firmer  and  more  useful. 


CONVERSING   WITH   THE   IMPENITENT.  Go 

Many  young  persons  think  that  their  diffidence  is 
evidence  that  they  are  not  Christians.  "  If  I  loved 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,"  they  say,  "  should  I  be 
ashamed  to  speak  of  his  name  ?  "  It  is  true  of  some 
men  that  they  do  not  love  Christ  enough  to  be 
willing  to  speak  of  his  name  ;  but  then  there  are 
other  reasons  besides  a  want  of  willingness  to  ac- 
knowledge the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  why  men  hesitate 
about  speaking  of  his  name.  It  does  not  follow  in 
every  case  that  a  man  does  not  love  the  Saviour  sim- 
ply because  he  feels  great  delicacy  and  reserve  in  this 
respect.  There  may  be  dishonorable  reasons ;  but 
there  may  also  be  reasons  that  are  not  dishonor- 
able. 

Here  is  a  young  man  who  says  :  "  So-and-so  is  doing 
a  great  deal  of  good,  but  I  cannot  do  as  he  does.  I 
have  not  the  power  that  he  has  ;  and  then  I  should 
not  know  how  to  use  it  if  I  had,"  But  it  does  not 
follow  that  you  ought  not  to  learn.  The  learning  is 
very  essential. 

Then,  another  important  element  is  experience.  An 
old  Christian,  out  of  the  abundance  of  his  heart,  can 
talk  all  the  time ;  but  it  is  not  so  with  a  young  per- 
son. In  the  earlier  periods  of  life  we  have  not  so 
much  to  say. 

How  useful  conversation  is  depends  on  what  it  is, 
or  what  it  means.  For  instance,  if  you  know  a  person 
to  have  been  proved  and  tried  in  life  all  the  way 
through,  one  simple  sentence  from  him  is  very  power- 
ful. One  sentence  from  Dr.  Cornelius  carried  great 
weight  with  it.  But  suppose  it  were  not  he,  but 
a  man  of  a  narrow  sphere,  an   inferior  mind,  and 


G4  LECTURE-EOOM   TALKS. 

no  character,  how  much  weight  would  it  have  ?  Dr. 
Cornelius's  whole  life  was  a  trip-hammer  that  drove 
home  what  he  said. 

If  there  comes  to  you  a  man  whom  you  think  to  he 
a  little  whipper-snapper,  and  he  talks  ahout  the  mvful 
responsibilities  of  this  life,  you  do  not  mind  what  he 
says,  nor  care  for  it.  You  have  no  respect  for  him. 
His  life  has  not  given  him  a  right  to  talk  about  such 
matters.  Tliat  which  makes  conversation  effectual 
is  generally  either  the  known  life  and  disposition  of 
the  person  which  give  intrinsic  weight  to  it,  or  else 
it  is  a  moral  wisdom  and  gravity  in  the  thing  said, 
which  impresses  it  on  the  judgment  according  to  the 
natural  laws  of  the  judgment. 

While,  then,  it  is  your  duty  to  talk,  it  is  still  more 
your  duty  to  live  so  that  you  can  talk.  While  it  is 
your  duty  to  converse  with  others  on  the  subject  of 
their  souls'  salvation,  it  is  still  more  your  duty  to  live 
so  that  you  will  have  something  to  say.  These  tru- 
isms that  are  bandied  about  everywhere  do  not  amount 
to  talking.  And  as  we  are  to  watch  unto  prayer,  so 
we  are  to  watch  unto  edifying  conversation.  I  am 
speaking  of  cases  where  conversation  is  in  some  sense 
ministerial. 

I  now  pass  to  a  department  in  which  everybody,  it 
seems  to  me,  can  do  something.  I  refer  to  daily 
family  conversation.  It  seems  to  me  that  every  per- 
son who  has  any  degree  of  seriousness,  any  conscien- 
tious sensibility,  any  Christian  love  and  zeal,  will,  in 
liis  daily  round  of  intercourse,  say  something  and  do 
something  which  shall  manifest  these  feelings.  It 
seems  to  me  that  his  business  will  be  judged  from  a 


CONVERSING   WITH   THE   IMPENITENT.  G5 

high  stand-point,  and  that  his  social  life  will  have  an 
elevated  tone.  It  seems  to  me  that  his  hopes,  his 
fearsj  his  burdens,  his  endeavors,  his  mistakes,  his 
temptations,  his  deliverances,  his  insight  into  God's 
Word,  his  knowledge  of  prayer,  his  memory  of  evils, 
his  recollection  of  blessings,  all  his  thoughts  and  feel- 
ings, will  be  tinged  and  dyed  with  the  same  Cliristian 
spirit.  I  can  hardly  think  it  possible  for  two  Chris- 
tians to  live  together  under  the  same  roof,  or  to  be 
associated  in  the  same  business,  week  after  week  and 
month  after  month,  and  yet  neither  of  them  have  any- 
thing that  comes  from  Christian  experience  which  he 
offers  the  other. 

I  think  that  every  person  ought,  so  far  as  possible, 
to  find  companionship  and  friendship  which  turns  on 
religious  congeniality.  Young  men  ought  to  find 
somebody  that  they  can  talk  with  naturally  and  easily. 
They  ought  to  form  associations  where  the  pivot,  the 
starting-point,  of  conversation,  shall  be  moral,  relig- 
ious truth.  It  may  be  that  other  friendships  will  be 
broader  and  more  absorbing  ;  but  every  man  ought  to 
have  somebody  with  whom  he  can  naturally  and  easily 
talk  on  the  subject  of  religion. 

Q.  An  acquaintance  of  mine  tells  me  that  he  has  always  found, 
when  the  time  came  for  him  to  speak  to  a  person  on  the  subject 
of  religion,  that  he  had  a  sort  of  longing  to  meet  that  person  ;  and 
I  have  felt  the  same  thing.     Is  it  a  general  feeling  ? 

This  longing  is  peculiar.  Some  have  it,  and  some 
do  not ;  but  where  you  do  have  it,  it  is  a  pretty  good 
sign  that  you  are  in  a  state  of  mind  to  talk.  It  may 
not  be  that  those  to  whom  you  talk  are  in  a  state  of 


66  LECTUEE-EOOM   TALKS. 

mind  to  hear  what  you  say  ;  but  the  wisdom  that 
springs  from  our  feelings  is  better  than  the  dry  light 
that  we  get  from  the  understanding.  Where  your 
heart  takes  hold  of  persons,  and  you  think  about 
them,  and  pray  for  them,  and  brood  over  them,  and 
they  are  continually  in  your  thoughts,  and  you  clothe 
them  with  the  garment  of  your  affection,  then  in  con- 
versation with  them  your  tones  are  more  gentle  and 
winning,  your  themes  are  more  appropriate,  and  the 
applications  of  what  you  say  are  generally  wiser,  than 
you  could  make  them,  probably,  under  any  other  cir- 
cumstances. Dry  talk,  talk  without  any  feeling  in  it, 
does  not  do  much  good  ;  but  where  you  find  a  person 
that  you  hunger  after,  you  need  not  be  afraid  to  talk 
to  him. 

I  am  not  superstitious  about  this.  My  own  experi- 
ence corroborates  it.  I  often  know  when  I  am  going 
to  succeed  in  my  ministrations,  as  certainly  as  I  know 
anything.  In  many  cases,  when  speaking  to  an  audi- 
ence, I  have  that  in  me  that  says,  "  I  will  carry  them, 
and  nothing  can  hinder  it";  and  I  do  carry  them 
when  I  feel  so.  Sometimes,  in  periods  of  revival, 
I  am  clothed  with  a  victorious  power,  and  am  con- 
scious of  it.  There  are  cases  in  which  I  see  persons 
whose  souls  I  yearn  to  save,  and  it  seems  as  though 
the  Spirit  of  God  came  with  power ;  it  seems  as 
though  I  were  ten  times  as  strong  as  Samson  was 
when  he  lifted  the  gates  of  the  city ;  it  seems  as 
though  I  could  lift  five  thousand  gates,  and  bring 
these  persons  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

I  do  not  put  any  particular  emphasis  on  this  expe- 
rience.    If  one  has  it,  he  has  great  cause  to  be  thank- 


CONVERSING   WITH   THE   IMPENITENT.  67 

ful ;  but  if  lie  lias  it  not,  let  him  not  mourn.  Let 
every  man  take  that  which  has  been  given  him,  and 
be  content.  God  makes  sparrows  to  sing,  and  they 
sing  as  sparrows  ;  he  makes  bluebirds  to  sing,  and 
they  sing  as  bluebirds ;  he  makes  robins  to  sing,  and 
they  sing  as  robins  ;  he  makes  wood-thrushes  and  larks 
to  sing,  and  they  sing  in  the  way  that  they  were  made 
to  sing.  They  are  all  members  of  a  great  choir,  and 
each  carries  his  part,  and  each  sings  sweeter  and  better 
in  singing  according  to  his  own  nature,  than  ho  would 
if  he  undertook  to  copy  the  style  of  some  other  bird- 
sin  «j^er. 

Now,  there  is  some  way  in  which  you  can  aid 
Christ's  cause,  and  if  you  are  in  earnest  you  can  find 
out  which  way  it  is.  There  are  many  ways  of  useful- 
ness, and  it  is  essential  that  you  should  ascertain 
which  way  you  can  pursue  the  most  efficiently  ;  and 
that  you  can  do  by  a  diligent  trial  of  your  various 
gifts.  In  some  way  every  man  should  work  for  the 
building  up  of  the  kingdom  of  God  in  his  fellowmen. 

Q  Does  not  the  difSculty  which  is  experienced  by  wives  and 
husbands  and  friends  in  speaking  to  each  other,  and  by  parents  in 
speaking  to  their  children,  on  the  subject  of  religion,  often  arise 
from  the  consciousness  which  they  have  of  the  imperfection  of 
their  lives,  and  of  the  inconsistency  of  their  conduct  with  the  in- 
structions which  they  fain  would  give  ? 

There  may  occasionally  be  a  feeling  of  that  kind ; 
but  it  does  not  cover  the  whole  ground.  Sometimes 
the  reverse  is  the  case.  I  have  known  persons  who 
turned  their  infelicities  of  disposition  and  conduct  to 
a  good  account.  I  have  known  passionate  men  that 
flew  off  the  handle  easily,  and  that,  when  they  calmed 


68  LECTURE-EOOM   TALKS. 

down,  would  say,  "  My  dear  boy,  it  is  a  source  of 
infinite  mortification  to  me  that  I  am  subject  to  such 
an  unhappy  temper :  now,  take  warning  of  your 
father  "  ;  and  it  has  done  tlie  boy  a  great  deal  of  good. 
I  have  known  men  that  signed  the  temperance  pledge 
because  their  fathers  drank  so  hard.  I  have  known  a 
great  many  instances  of  that  kind.  On  the  other 
hand,  there  are  cases  in  which  parents  feel :  "  If  my 
children  do  not  know  by  my  conduct  in  the  household 
that  religion  is  to  me  the  most  important  thing,  no 
words  that  I  can  speak  will  impress  its  importance  on 
them." 

My  father  did  not  need  to  speak  to  me  to  impress 
me  with  the  importance  of  religion.  The  way  he 
lived,  the  spirit  he  manifested,  was  sufficient  for  that. 
He  had  no  religiousness  ;  he  was  very  careless  in  this 
regard,  —  so  careless  that  I  was  shocked  at  times.  I 
have  been  horror-struck  at  things  that  I  have  seen  him 
do  in  the  pulpit,  when  prayer  was  going  on.  I  have 
seen  him  do  things  at  prayer-time  in  the  family  that 
did  not  seem  to  me  reverential,  —  and  I  should  not 
wonder  if  they  were  not ;  but,  after  all,  his  views  of 
the  world  ;  his  ideas  in  respect  to  the  things  to  be 
lived  for  ;  the  way  in  which  he  treated  men  that  did 
wrong  ;  his  mildness,  and  gentleness,  and  love,  and 
lovableness ;  his  deep  sense  of  eternal  things,  — 
these  were  evidence  enough  of  his  goodness.  It  is 
true  that  sometimes,  right  in  prayer-time,  and  when 
others  were  praying,  he  would  open  his  eyes  and  look 
out  of  the  window  ;  yet,  when  he  came  to  read  the 
Bible,  and  he  got  to  one  of  those  beautiful  passages  of 
Christ,  he  would  stop,  and  choke,  and  weep,  and  try 


CONVERSING   WITH  THE  IMPENITENT.  G9 

again,  and  break  down,  and  give  up,  and  close  the 
Bible  ;  and  then,  when  he  tried  to  pray,  the  tears 
would  pour  down  his  cheeks,  and  his  words  would 
seem  to  be  utterances  gurgling  through  water.  And 
when  he  was  so  pervaded  and  saturated  with  a  relig- 
ious spirit ;  when  he  was  swept  at  times  with  such  a 
flood  of  feeling  about  invisible  things  ;  when  his  heart 
was  full  of  religion,  and  his  life  was  full  of  religion, 
what  did  he  need  to  say  to  me  ?  I  needed  no  one  to 
talk  to  me  except  to  comfort  me  ?  Already  I  was  in 
bondage  to  conscience,  my  feeling  of  self-condemna- 
tion was  too  strong ;  and  what  I  needed  was  some- 
thing to  let  me  up,  and  not  to  press  me  down. 

Sometimes  the  reason  why  persons  do  not  talk  to 
their  children  is  a  foolish  sense  of  their  own  inconsis- 
tency ;  but  sometimes  they  do  not  need  to  do  it, 
because  their  whole  life,  their  whole  influence,  is 
conversation  enough. 

I  feel  almost  a  morbid  sense  of  the  rights  of  people. 
I  will  not  intrude  on  persons'  consciences  and  per- 
sonal liberty.  I  will  not  invade  the  rights  of  others 
in  the  church,  in  the  household,  or  anywhere  else. 
I  will  not  take  advantage  of  my  public  position,  or  of 
my  intimacy  with  persons  to  attack  them.  I  hate  to 
corner  people.  I  am  asked :  "  Why  do  you  not  get 
men  in  tliis  or  that  corner,  and  hammer  away  at  them 
in  your  applications  ?  "  Because  I  will  not  take  any- 
body at  a  disadvantage.  If  a  man  comes  to  Christ, 
he  must  come  of  his  own  accorcj.  I  will  do  all  I  can 
for  him  by  reasoning  and  persuasion  ;  I  will  endeavor 
to  show  him  the  path  in  which  he  should  walk  :  but  it 
is  for  him  to  say,  "  I  will  come,"  and  to  walk  in  it 


70  LECTURE-ROOM   TALKS. 

himself,  like  a  man.     I  will  not  drag  him  by  the  ears 
into  the  kingdom  of  God. 

In  the  family  we  have  each  other  at  a  great  disad- 
vantage. We  know  just  where  those  whom  we  live 
with  are  sore,  and  we  are  able  to  put  our  finger  upon 
the  very  marrow  of  their  feelings.  This  is  the  reason 
why  family  quarrels  are  so  bitter.  And  in  religious 
matters,  we  confide  in  each  other,  we  trust  each  other, 
we  are  open-breasted  with  each  other ;  and  it  is  not 
fair  to  take  advantage  of  our  knowledge  one  of  another 
to  talk  to  each  other  as  we  would  to  an  outsider  to 
whom  we  are  under  no  special  obligation.  There  is  a 
law  of  delicacy  and  respect  here  which  ought  not  to 
be  disregarded. 


THE  UNWRITTEN  WORDS   AND  DEEDS   OF   CHRIST.      71 


THE    UNWRITTEN    WORDS    AND   DEEDS  OF 
CHRIST. 


HE  last  verse  of  the  last  chapter  of  John  is 
one  of  the  most  tantalizing  verses  in  the 
Bible.  I  sometimes  wish  it  had  not  been 
written  ;  or  that,  since  it  was,  something 
more  had  been  written.  There  is  a  great  deal  too  lit- 
tle of  the  best  part  of  the  Bible,  —  that  is,  if  we  might 
be  permitted  to  express  an  opinion  in  the  matter. 

"  And  there  are  also  many  other  things  which  Jesus  did,  the 
which,  if  they  should  be  written  every  one,  I  suppose  that  even 
the  world  itself  could  not  contain  the  books  that  should  be  writ- 
ten." 

We  are  not,  when  interpreting  the  language  of  the 
East,  where  hyperbole  was  almost  vernacular,  where 
the  commonest  thoughts  were  expressed  in  language 
that  seems  to  us  almost  extravagant,  to  make  too 
much  of  statements  like  this  ;  but  certainly  it  is  fair 
to  conclude  that  John  designed  to  inform  us  that  the 
Gospels  were  but  the  merest  handful  of  the  harvest 
of  Christ's  life.  It  is  perfectly  fair  to  infer  from  this 
passage,  that  the  life  of  Christ  was  fruitful  both  in  ac- 
tions and  in  speeches  to  a  degree  which  the  Gospels 
alone  in  no  adequate  measure  represent. 

And  yet,  no  man  can  read  the  Gospels  without  be- 
ing impressed  with  the  immense  activity  of  Christ. 
They  never  conveyed  to  my  mind  the  idea  of  a  man 
who  bustled  about  or  talked  much.  I  can  hardly 
conceive  of  the  Saviour  as  having  any  of  that  inten- 


'^ 


72  LECTURE-ROOM   TALKS. 

sive  energy  which  you  see  in  men  of  common  practical 
power.  If  I  imagine  him  as  walking,  I  never  imagine 
him  as  walking  in  such  a  manner  that  people  would 
naturally  step  out  of  the  way  for  fear  that  he  would 
run  upon  them.  I  always  think  of  him  as  moving, 
not  with  a  slow  but  still  with  a  dignified  onward 
motion,  that  was  composed,  self-possessed. 
*  As  to  the  fact  that  he  was  ready  of  speech  to  an 
'  extraordinary  degree,  we  are  not  left  in  doubt ;  and 
\  yet,  who  ever  conceived  of  Christ  as  talkative  ?  That 
\  he  was  accessible,  that  he  was  inclined  to  converse, 
we  cannot  doubt.  Tlie  slight  glimpses  which  we  get 
into  what  may  be  called  the  domestic  life  of  Christ, 
his  life  with  the  disciples,  give  us  that  impression. 
His  fluency  in  public  discourse  gives  us  the  idea  of 
one  to  whom  speech  was  naturally  ready  and  rich. 
He  drew  illustrations  from  every  source.  He  was  not 
abstract.  He  was  an  extraordinary  instance  of  one' 
who  propounded  universal  truths,  rather  than  relative 
ones,  not  making  them  abstract,  but  almost  putting 
them  into  concrete  forms.  And  yet,  no  man  thinks  of 
Christ  as  being  garrulous,  or  excessively  and  loosely 
talkative.  On  the  contrary,  we  think  that  he  probably 
never  opened  his  lips  to  speak  without  so  shaping  a 
sentence  that  it  was  like  coin.  I  think  of  the  Saviour 
as  uttering  sentences  so  crisp,  so  fresh,  and  so  com- 
plete, that  every  one  of  them  might  be  cherished  as  a 
proverb,  or  a  maxim,  or  as  a  rounded  statement.  And 
although  they  may  not  seem  to  us  to  cover  —  as  they  do 
not — the  whole  ground  of  modern  thought,  how  im- 
mensely they  outran  the  ground  of  thought  in  that  day! 
This,  unless  we  have  studied  the  matter,  we  are  not  so 


THE   UNWRITTEN  WORDS   AND  DEEDS   OF   CHRIST.      73 

well  prepared  to  appreciate  as  they  who  are  familiar 
with  the  round  of  rabbinical  lore,  and  the  manner  of 
teaching  in  the  literature  of  the  East. 

But  the  sayings  of  Christ  were  not  remarkable  more 
for  their  practical  wisdom,  for  their  directness,  and 
for  their  being  delivered  to  the  moral  feelings  of  men, 
which  made  him  seem  like  one  teaching  with  author- 
ity, than  for  their  comprehensiveness,  their  great 
breadth  and  variety. 

And  yet,  after  all  that  we  have  of  him,  after  all 
that  we  have  of  his  healing  miracles,  after  all  that  we 
have  of  his  ministrations  of  various  kinds,  after  all 
that  we  have  of  his  sayings  and  doings  in  the  four 
Evangelists,  John  says,  "  That  is  nothing  compared 
with  what  he  did."  We  have  here  these  little  Books 
of  the  New  Testament  that  you  can  carry  between 
your  thumb  and  finger,  which  contain  the  sura  of  all 
that  we  know  concerning  him ;  but  John  says  that 
the  unrecorded  things  which  he  did,  if  they  were 
written,  would  make  books  which  would  fill,  not  a 
library  merely,  but  the  world  itself,  almost! 

I  cannot  but  feel  sorry  that  more  was  not  recorded. 
Doubtless,  there  are  many  subjects  that  he  discoursed 
about  which  are  not  touched  upon.     I  do  not  under- 
take to  give  any  reason  why  it  should  be  so.     But  I 
think  it  is  natural,  and  I  think  it  is  not  a  sinful  curi- 
osity, since  we  have  had  so  much,  to  wish  to  know 
what  more  there  was.     And  we  arc  not  left  altogctlier  | 
in  the  dark  about  it.     Occasionally   things  fall  out  | 
accidentally,  —  for  there  are  such  things  as  accidents  ^ 
in  the  Bible,  —  and  these  things  make  us  feel  more 
eager  in  collecting  and  appropriating  all  that  there  is. 

4 


>l 


i 


74  LECTURE-EOOM   TALKS.  ' 

One  who  was  not  a  disciple  while  Christ  was  on 
earth,  hut  who  was  afterwards  brought  into  the 
disciple  band,  and  who  had  never,  except  by  a  mira- 
cle, belield  the  Saviour,  was  voyaging  about  the 
Mediterranean  and  Asia  Minor,  preaching  Christ;  and 
in  one  of  his  circuits  he  stopped,  and  called  the  elders 
of  Ephesus  to  him,  and  had  a  short  interview  with 
them  ;  and  towards  the  close  of  his  remarks  he  let 
drop  this  declaration  :  — 

"  I  have  showed  you  all  things  ;  how  that  so  laboring  ye  ought 
to  support  the  weak,  and  to  remember  the  words  of  the  Lord 
Jesus,  how  he  said,  '  It  is  more  blessed  to  give  than  to  receive.' " 

Why,  that  like  to  have  been  left  out !  It  so  hap- 
pened that  Paul,  away  off  in  Asia  Minor,  by  the  merest 
chance,  told  these  men  to  recollect  this  saying  of 
Christ.  There  is  not  a  word  about  it  anywhere  in  the 
New  Testament  except  here. 

Now  consider  what  that  is.  I  call  it  the  key-note 
of  human  happiness.  I  call  it  the  very  secret  of  the 
Christian  philosophy.  And  just  as  long  as  the  world 
stands,  I  think  it  will  be  found  more  and  more  demon- 
strable, that  both  duty  and  moral  health  and  happiness 
depend  on  centrifugal  action,  —  not  on  centripetal  ; 
and  that  men  who  want  to  be  happy,  and  go  about 
seeking  happiness  with  a  different  idea  from  this,  will 
only  repeat  the  universal  disappointment  of  men, — 
a  disappointment  that  is  proportioned  and  commen- 
surate with  the  greatness  of  faculty,  with  the  depth  of 
desire,  with  the  power  of  natnre.  For  no  human 
being,  by  drawing  in  knowledge,  by  drawing  in  taste, 
by  drawing  in  love,  by  drawing  in  any  clement  that 


THE   UNWRITTEN   WORDS   AND   DEEDS   OF   CHRIST.      YD 

is  accounted  as  joy-inspiring,  was  ever  more  than 
momentarily  illumined  and  made  happy.  And  the 
representatives  of  happiness  acquired  in  any  such  way 
reveal  how  slender,  how  imperfect,  how  unsatisfying 
it  is.  No  man  ever  yet  was  happy,  with  a  happiness 
that  lasted,  who  had  not  the  power  of  throwing  out 
love,  or  throwing  out  taste,  or  throwing  out  thought, 
or  throwing  out  action.  And  all  this  is  shown  by  the 
words  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  "  It  is  more  blessed  i 
to  give  than  to  receive*"  It  is  more  blessed  to  do  for 
others  than  to  have  others  do  for  you.  It  is  more 
blessed  to  bestow  good  upon  others  than  to  have  others 
bestow  good  upon  you.  It  is  more  blessed  to  teach 
than  to  be  taught.  The  great  law  of  happiness  is  the 
law  of  outgoing,  and  not  the  law  of  incoming. 

But  the  world  does  not  believe  a  word  of  it.     Nei- 
ther does  the  church,  for  the  most  part.     Although 
Christians  do,  when   sworn,  or  under   examination, 
indorse   that  text,  they  do  not  live  it.      The  great 
operating    principle   in   the   world    and    throughout 
human  society  still  is,  that  a  man  is  to  be  happy 
in  proportion  as  he  gets  and  has.     And  so  human 
life  whirls  round  and  round  with  its  vortex  sucking 
in  as  much  as  possible.     And  human  life  is  full  of 
disappointment,  full  of  waves,  full  of  echoes  of  sorrow, 
and  trouble.     It  is  the  few  only  that  by  some  accident! 
have  stumbled  upon  this  philosophy  of  the  Saviour,' 
and  found  out   that  men  arc  to   be  happy  in   pro- 
portion as  they  are  able  to  give  from  themselves  to 
others. 

Did  you  ever  undertake  to  settle  in  your  mind  what 
were  the  happiest  days  that  you  ever  had  in  your  life  ? 


76  LECTURE-ROOM   TALKS. 

I  think  it  would  be  a  problem  worth  solving,  to  sit 
down  and  call  back  your  happiest  days.  I  have  tried 
to  do  it.  I  think  some  of  the  happiest  days  I  ever  had 
were  those  of  forth-putting.  They  were  not  days  in 
which  great  influences  were  borne  in  on  me.  I  can- 
not recollect  those  days.  That  is,  I  know  there  was  a 
day,  at  about  such  a  period  of  my  life,  when  I  was 
extremely  happy  ;  but  I  have  forgotten  what  the  con- 
tents of  it  were.  It  lies  back  in  my  memory  like  a 
golden  haze  ;  but  what  the  substance  of  it  was  I  can- 
not distinctly  remember. 

I  recollect  a  day  that  I  had  at  Stratford-on-Avon, 
which  was  radiant  as  the  sun  in  summer.  I  recol- 
lect another  day  when  the  full  power  and  glory  of  the 
galleries  of  art  broke  upon  me,  on  the  Continent.  I 
recollect  another  day  that  I  had  in  Berlin.  These 
days  stand  out;  but  their  contents  do  not.  I  look 
back  upon  them,  and  they  seem  to  me  as  a  house  of 
revelry  does  to  a  man  who  is  passing  by  it  in  the 
street.  He  sees  the  house,  that  is  shaken  with  the 
dance,  and  that  is  full  of  light,  and  he  hears  the  merry 
voices  of  the  people  within ;  but  he  cannot  look  in  to 
see  what  they  are  doing.  He  merely  knows  that  there 
is  a  house,  and  that  there  is  great  joy  in  it.  I  have 
a  general,  vague  sense  of  having  had  days  of  recep- 
tivity. 

But,  on  the  other  hand,  there  rise  up  before  my 
mind  many  days  in  which  my  experience  was  that  of 
giving  out,  instead  of  taking  in.  I  have  a  distinct 
recollection  of  the  first  revival  that  I  labored  in.  It 
was  in  Terre  Haute,  Indiana.  I  used  to  get  up  early 
in  the  morning,  and,  immediately  after  breakfast,  take 


THE  UNWRITTEN  WORDS   AND   DEEDS   OF   CHRIST.      77 

a  horse,  and  ride  from  bouse  to  house,  and  converse 
with  people.  I  worked  in  that  way  till  tea  o'clock. 
Between  ten  and  eleven  I  attended  the  daily  prayer- 
meeting  that  was  held  there.  Then  I  rode  with  the 
pastor  till  dinner-time.  After  dinner  I  rested  till 
evening,  when  I  attended  another  meeting.  This  I 
continued  for  two  or  three  weeks.  And  those  days 
I  could  almost  take,  one  after  another,  in  their  order, 
and  tell  you  just  what  I  did.  Those  days  were  almost 
entirely  without  selfness ;  and  yet  they  are  clear  to 
my  memory.     They  stand  out,  —  ribs,  bones,  and  all. 

I  recollect  going  home  and  having  just  such  a  time 
in  my  own  parish.  And  I  can  draw  from  that  period 
single  days,  as  you  would  draw  pictures  out  from  a 
portfolio.  They  are  like  a  volume  shut ;  but  I  can  go 
to  my  note-books,  in  which  I  took  down  lists  of  the 
names  of  the  men  and  women  to  whom  I  ministered, 
and  can  give  you  whole  histories  of  individuals,  and 
tell  you  what  I  thought  of  them,  what  their  spiritual 
wants  were,  what  I  did  for  them,  how  I  followed  them 
up,  and  what  the  issue  was.  And  I  can  do  this  in  the 
cases  of  scores  and  scores  of  them.  I  think  I  can 
give  you  the  histories  of  two  hundred  persons  that  I 
knew  in  Indianapolis.  I  can  recollect  the  experience 
of  whole  winters  there,  and  relate  the  details  of  events 
that  took  place  in  connection  with  my  ministerial  labors. 

Though  there  are  gradations  of  happiness,  though 
it  is  not  intimated  that  there  is  no  happiness  in  receiv- 
ing, yet  "  it  is  more  blessed  to  give  than  to  receive." 
And  a  man  who  has  a  heart  and  disposition  to  live 
so  as  to  produce  effects  of  thought,  of  taste,  of  moral 
excellence,  of  love  and  joy,  upon  other  men,  is  un- 


78  LECTURE-EOOM   TALKS. 

consciously  writing,  also,  the  score  of  his  own  hap- 
piness. He  may  not  at  the  time  be  conscious  of  the 
impression  of  these  things  upon  himself ;  bvit  if  he 
takes  the  trouble  to  look  back,  he  will  find  that  while 
the  things  which  he  receives  die  out  like  lines  that, 
written  in  phosphorus,  shine  less  and  less,  and  finally 
almost  or  quite  disappear,  the  things  which  he  gives 
are  graven  ineffaceably  on  his  memory,  —  are,  as  it 
were,  cut  in  the  rock. 

And  this  principle,  which  I  think  you  will  find  veri- 
fied so  amply,  was  almost  lost  out  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment !  I  might  chide  myself,  perhaps,  for  saying  so, 
as  if  there  were  not  a  Providence  that  at  the  proper 
time  and  place  would  have  remembered  that  impor- 
tant principle  and  had  it  recorded  ;  but,  speaking  after 
the  manner  of  men,  I  might  say  it  was  wellnigh  lost. 

Well,  then,  there  is  another  application  for  it.  I 
Imve  many  persons  coming  to  me  that  are  whelmed  in 
trouble,  that  are  afflicted  with  various  distemperatures 
spiritual.  Now  and  then  there  aro  cases  of  persons 
who  are  stumbling  simply  for  want  of  general  religious 
instruction.  There  are  cases  of  other  persons  who 
are  stumbling  on  account  of  ill  health,  and  who 
merely  need  enlightenment  with  regard  to  physical 
conditions.  There  are  cases  of  others  who  are  stum- 
bling from  some  misconception  of  the  truth,  and  who 
only  require  a  slight  adjustment  of  points  not  under- 
stood. And  so  on.  But  my  experience  as  a  pastor 
is,  that  perhaps  one  half  of  the  uncertainties  of  men, 
and  of  their  anxieties  about  their  personal  experience, 
arise  from  their  seeking  religion  as  a  selfish  stimu- 
lant.     They  want  it  as  an  exhilarating  gas.     They 


THE   UNWRITTEN   WORDS   AND   DEEDS   OF   CHRIST.      79 

want  evidence  that  their  sins  are  forgiven  for  the  sake 
of  the  joy  that  will  spring  out  of  it.  They  want  evi- 
dence of  Christ's  presence  with  them  on  account  of 
the  delight  that  it  will  afford  them.  They  want  as- 
surance of  adoption  ;  they  want  rapture  in  worship ; 
they  want  joy  in  meetings ;  they  want  stimulus  in 
preaching  ;  they  want  everything  that  will  play  music 
on  their  soul.  They  are  seeking  experiences  that  shall 
be  radiant  and  eminent  and  full  of  joy. 

If  people,  instead  of  seeking  joyful  experiences  for 
themselves,  would  seek  to  make  other  people's  expe- 
riences joyful ;  if  they  would,  instead  of  seeking  to 
he  happy,  seek  to  secure  the  happiness  of  others  ;  if 
they  would,  instead  of  seeking  to  get  rid  of  carrying 
their  own  burdens,  seek  to  bear  the  burdens  of  others  ; 
if  they  would,  instead  of  spending  their  time  in  ex- 
amining their  evidences  to  see  whether  they  are  in  the 
true  way,  seek  to  bring  back  to  the  fold  of  Christ  those 
that  have  wandered  from  it ;  if  they  would  seek  to  do 
good,  rather  than  to  he  good,  —  I  think  they  would  ac- 
complish both  objects.  I  think  they  would  find  that 
doing  good  was  the  shortest  road  to  being  good,  and 
that  contributing  to  the  welfare  and  happiness  of 
others  was  the  shortest  road  to  securing  their  own 
welfare  and  happiness. 

Q.  Do  you  think  that  the  passage  which  you  quoted  has  any 
necessary  connection  with  religious  sentiment  or  feeling  ?  Or  is 
it  a  universal  law,  that  "  it  is  more  blessed  to  give  than  to  re- 
ceive "  ?  In  other  words,  will  not  men  of  the  world,  and  even 
those  whom  we  consider  to  be  immoral  men,  when  they  perform 
a  good  act,  experience  the  same  glow  and  satisfaction  in  their 
hearts  and  minds  which  religious  people  do  when  they  perform 
the  same  act  ? 


80  LECTURE-ROOM   TALKS. 

Relatively  tliey  will.  It  is  a  universal  law.  It  is 
more  perfectly  realized  in  the  experiences  of  a  Chris- 
tian life ;  but  any  man  wlio  wants  to  can  take  a  taste, 
and  see  how  he  likes  the  specimen ! 

Now,  do  not  go  out  to-morrow,  and  do  some  good 
thing  on  purpose  that  you  may  be  happy.  That  will 
spoil  it  all.  If  you  would  be  happy,  you  must  do 
good  for  the  sake  of  doing  good,  and  not  for  the  sake 
of  the  kicking  back  of  happiness  on  you. 

I  am  reminded  of  a  man  in  Boston  who  was  accus- 
tomed to  go  down  to  the  police  court  regularly  to 
relieve  persons  who  suffered  because  they  had  no 
friends,  nobody  to  bail  them,  and  nobody  to  see  that 
they  were  properly  defended.  Although  the  courts 
were  generally  served  by  men  of  humanity  as  well  as 
justice,  yet  there  was  a  great  deal  of  carelessness 
which  resulted  in  the  suffering  of  many  who  were 
arraigned  and  tried.  And  this  man,  though  he  was 
not  a  man  of  wealth,  used  to  go  surety  for  these 
wretches.  He  did  it  for  years  and  years.  And  he 
was  the  means  of  rescuing  many  criminals  from  unde- 
served punishment,  and  of  reforming  and  saving  them. 
And  I  recollect  that  he  said  he  never  was  permitted,  in 
one  single  instance  in  which  he  rendered  assistance  to 
persons  of  this  class,  among  whom  were  many  aban- 
doned people,  to  suffer  pecuniary  loss.  If  he  went 
bail  for  a  man,  that  man  or  his  friends  invariably 
made  it  up  to  him. 

What  I  was  thinking  was  that,  in  all  probability,  at 
that  time,  not  the  merchant  that  was  the  most  pros- 
perous and  was  making  the  most  money,  nor  the  artist 
that  was  gaining  the  highest  reputation,  nor  the  min- 


THE   UNWRITTEN   WORDS  AND  DEEDS   OF   CHRIST.      81 

ister  that  was  preaching  the  most  attractive  sermons, 
and  getting  the  most  praise,  was  the  happiest ;  but  that 
the  man  who  was  reaping  every  day,  unconsciously, 
the  deepest  satisfaction,  was  this  man,  wlio  was  really 
spending  all  his  time  for  others,  and  not  for  himself. 


4* 


82  LECTURE-ROOM   TALKS. 


PRAISE  AND   PRAYER 


0  one,  I  think,  can  look  through  the  Book 
of  Psalms  without  being  struck  with  the 
amount  which  it  contains  of  that  particular 
experience  which  we  call  the  spirit  of  praise. 
A  great  many  have  a  vague  impression  that  praise  is 
closely  allied  to  flattery  ;  that  it  is,  at  any  rate,  the 
recitation  into  one's  ears  of  all  his  good  qualities. 
Nothing,  it  seems  to  me,  could  be  more  odious.  And, 
as  we  grow  liner  and  morally  higher  by  imbibing  the 
spirit  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ,  it  would  become  pro- 
portionately abhorrent,  if  praise  meant  the  recitation 
before  God,  even,  of  what  we  conceived  to  be  the 
divine  excellence,  in  any  such  sense  as  that  of  flatter- 
ing him,  to  conciliate  him,  and  to  render  him  more 
facile  to  our  petitions.  That  is  a  low  and  ungenerous 
and  gross  way  of  viewing  praise. 

If  men  are  surprised  by  a  great  pleasure,  you  will 
see  the  difference  between  one  and  another  in  this, 
that  a  stolid  or  selfish  man  will  absorb  his  pleasure, 
while  a  generous  nature,  like  a  bell,  will  ring  out  his. 
It  is  the  instinct  of  every  true  and  large  nature  to 
distribute  its  own  sensations  of  enjoyment,  to  radiate 
its  own  emotions  of  pleasure.  You  cannot  meet  a 
noble  man,  and  spend  a  few  moments  with  him, 
without  burning  to  tell  your  friends  something  about 
him.  Occupation,  or  the  time  that  has  elapsed  since 
you  met  him,  may  have  quenched  the  impulse  when 
vou  meet  them ;  but  I  think  the  first  desire  of  every 


PRAISE   AND   PRAYER.  83 

generous  person,  on  seeing  a  thing  which  excites  pleas- 
ure in  him,  is  to  excite  pleasure  in  some  one  else. 
It  is  this  tendency  of  the  mind  to  reflect  itself  upon 
others,  that  is  the  key-note  and  fundamental  element 
of  the  spirit  of  praise. 

Where  the  soul  stands  before  God,  and  becomes 
vividly  conscious  of  any  divine  excellence,  of  anything 
that  is  beautiful,  of  anything  that  is  grand,  it  ought, 
if  true  to  itself,  to  have  an  impulse  to  express  it ;  but 
it  is  the  result  of  delight  and  pleasure  produced  by 
the  action  of  the  Divine  Being  upon  the  mind. 

Praise  is  not,  then,  the  recitation  of  all  the  good 
qualities  that  you  can  think  of  in  God.  It  is  the 
utterance  of  the  joy  and  gladness  which  the  divine 
excellence  tends  to  excite  in  you.  That  is  the  genuine 
language  of  praise. 

I  used,  as  a  child,  to  hear  heaven  familiarly  called 
the  day  of  everlasting  rest,  the  Sabbath  of  the  soul ; 
and  I  thought  it  was  owing  to  my  depravity  that 
I  had  no  relish  for  it.  I  had  an  idea  that  heaven  was 
a  place  where  everybody  could  sing,  and  was  singing ; 
but  the  subject-matter  of  what  they  sang  I  had  no 
conception  of.  I  was  brought  up  in  tlie  back  country, 
where  singing  was  a  duty,  performed  as  best  it  might 
be  by  those  who  engaged  in  it,  and  my  suggestions 
and  imaginations  concerning  it  were  not  very  radiant. 
I  had  a  notion  that  the  saints  stood  around  the  throne 
and  sang  ;  and  my  imagination  had  been  lielped  by 
seeing  long  rows  of  angels,  like  wax-candles,  repre- 
sented in  pictures.  I  had  an  idea  that  angels  stood 
about  the  throne  very  white  and  very  pure,  and  re- 
cited before  God  what  they  thought  of  him.     I  did 


84  LECTURE-ROOM  TALKS. 

not  like  it ;  and  I  thought  I  was  a  miserable  wretch 
because  I  did  not.  I  thought  I  was  depraved,  and 
that  if  I  were  only  a  Christian  I  should  like  it. 

But  as  I  grew  older,  it  struck  me  that  my  child  in- 
stinct was  correct,  that  I  was  under  a  misapprehension, 
and  that  they  who  praised  God  in  heaven  were  repre- 
sented as  doing  it  musically  because  high  feeling  tends 
to  utter  itself  through  the  medium  of  music.  It 
struck  me  that  praising  God  was  not  so  much  reciting 
and  rehearsing  God's  qualities,  as  the  report  of  a 
man's  owu  inward  joy  as  excited  by  the  aspect,  the 
glory,  the  office  of  God. 

Now,  it  seems  to  me,  that,  according  to  this  concep- 
tion of  praise,  Christians,  for  the  most  part,  are  not 
in  a  state  to  praise  God.  And  it  is  very  remarkable 
to  see  how  men  will  open  their  prayers.  A  man  will 
begin  to  pray  by  saying,  "  We  praise  thee,  0  Lord," 
and  in  a  dull,  measured,  literal,  methodical  manner, 
will  say  that  he  is  doing  that  which  nobody  ever  does 
except  in  an  ecstatic  state,  —  except  in  language  which 
implies  intense  and  rapturous  excitement.  You  shall 
hear  persons,  because  they  think  it  their  duty  to  praise 
God,  utter  the  items  of  praise,  one  by  one,  as  though 
they  were  reading  off"  a  merchant's  bill  of  parcels  ; 
saying,  for  instance,  "  We  praise  thee  for  creation, 
and  we  praise  thee  for  providence,  and  we  praise  thcc 
for  grace,"  with  suitable  modifications  under  each 
head. 

Far  be  it  from  me  to  say  that  no  person  should 
utter  praise  imless  he  has  arrived  at  the  highest  state 
of  religious  feeling,  —  for  there  are  different  degrees 
of  this  feeling  which  are  compatible  with  a  proper 


PRAISE   AND  PRAYER.  85 

utterance  of  praise  ;  but  I  wish  to  dissuade  you,  when 
such  a  feeling  in  any  degree  is  excited  in  you,  from 
supposing  it  to  be  your  duty,  and  from  acting  as 
though  it  were  a  kind  of  duty,  to  recite  God's  quah- 
ties  before  him,  instead  of  being  satisfied  with  and 
profiting  by  the  effect  on  your  mind  of  a  near  contem- 
plation of  those  qualities. 

To  resume  the  original  thought  introduced  by  these 
remarks,  I  find,  in  reading  the  Bible,  that  it  was  the 
habit  of  the  Old  Testament  saints  and  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament saints  —  that  it  was  the  habit  of  religious  men 
both  before  and  after  Christ — to  indulge  in  much 
praise  of  God.  They  had  such  ready  access  to  him, 
they  had  such  sweet  and  joyous  views  of  him,  he  was 
so  near  and  precious  to  them,  that  there  was  excited 
in  them  a  continuous  desire  to  praise  him.  And  this 
feeling  sometimes  amounted  to  a  desire  to  caress. 
We  are  informed  that  John  laid  his  head  on  the  Sa- 
viour's bosom  ;  and  if  he  did  it  once,  you  may  be 
sure  that  he  did  it  many  times.  Many  instances  show 
that  Christ's  familiarity  with  his  disciples  extended  to 
caressing.  And  we  have  an  intimation  that  there  is 
such  a  thing  as  the  soul's  caress  of  God,  —  that  a  man 
may  have  such  a  sense  of  God's  presence  that  his 
heart  shall  touch,  as  it  were,  the  Divine  heart.  And 
ascriptions  of  praise  to  God  under  such  circumstances 
may  be  called  a  caress  of  words. 

I  hardly  know  how  there  could  be  a  near  life  with 
Christ  without  praise,  or  the  spirit  of  praise.  I  can 
scarcely  conceive  it  possible  that  the  soul  of  a  man 
should  be  in  intimate  relations  with  the  Divine  soul, 
without  having  a  desire  to  praise  God  excited  in  him. 


86  LECTURE-ROOM   TALKS. 

How  is  it  with  tis  ?  How  many  dull,  drudging  days 
do  we  have  !  How  many  days  unillumined  by  one 
single  wish  to  utter  thanks  or  gladness  !  How  many 
selfish  days  of  duty  !  How  many  days  of  fear  !  How 
many  days  of  secret  uneasiness  !  How  few  days  do 
we  find  in  which  we  experience  a  spirit  of  praise,  ex- 
cept those  rare  days  of  health  in  nerve  and  pleasure 
in  external  condition  !  Now  and  then,  with  many 
persons,  there  is  a  salient  day,  a  kind  of  pinnacle, 
on  wliich  they  are  joyful,  and  feel  like  praising  God. 
But  a  true  Christian  experience  would  find,  during 
some  part  of  every  day,  the  soul  in  a  condition  to 
love  and  praise  God.  To  be  in  a  praising  state,  one 
must  be  in  a  most  unselfish  condition  of  mind  ;  he 
must  live  relatively  humble  as  before  God  ;  he  must 
be  sensitive  to  his  obligations  to  God ;  he  must  have 
a  faith  that  shall  enable  him  to  see  God  in  the  events 
which  are  transpiring  about  him.  The  desire  to  praise 
God  presupposes  a  large  experience.  For  one  to  have 
this  desire  is  almost  the  same  as  to  be  a  rich  and  ripe 
Christian. 

I  anticipate  the  questions  that  you  will  ask.  You 
will  say,  "  How  shall  a  man  praise  God  who  seems  to 
himself  to  be  in  continuous  trouble  ?  "  Look  at  the 
history  of  David,  and  see  how  you  will  do  it.  I  think 
some  of  the  most  wondrous  of  his  psalms  are  those 
that  begin  in  supplication.  He  says,  for  instance, 
"  All  thy  waves  and  thy  billows  are  gone  over  me  ;  all 
mine  enemies  are  upon  me  ;  dost  thou  not  care  for 
me  ?  "  and  then,  liaving  exhausted  the  language  of 
supplication,  he  breaks  out  into  triumph,  and  says, 
"  I  will  praise  thee."     It  seems  as  though  there  rose 


PRAISE   AND   PRATER.  87 

lip  over  the  horizon  to  him  the  bright  star  of  Christ, 
and  as  though  the  light  of  it  kindled  in  his  soul  glad- 
ness and  peace  that  he  could  not  refrain  from  giving 
expression  to.  You  will  find  that  in  some  of  the 
Psalms  the  soul  begins  in  a  minor  key,  and  by  and 
by  rises  to  the  major  key  ;  and  then  flies  away,  —  and 
sings  as  it  flies. 

Now,  if  a  man  is  in  trouble,  let  him  go  to  God  in 
his  trouble,  till  he  gets  a  sense  of  the  divine  loving, 
pitying,  sympathetic  nature,  and  see  if  there  does  not 
spring  up  in  limi  a  spirit  of  praise.  And  whenever 
you  feel  an  impulse  to  praise,  give  it  wings.  Do  not 
lose  a  chance  to  praise.     It  is  precious  to  the  soul. 

"  How,"  it  is  asked, "  shall  a  man  who  is  not  mobile, 
who  is  not  sympathetic,  who  is  naturally  calm,  learn 
to  praise  ?  "  Every  man  must  do  it  according  to  his 
nature,  of  course.  Some  can  learn  to  praise  only  in 
a  low  degree  ;  others  can  learn  to  do  it  in  a  high 
degree  ;  but  according  to  his  measure  every  person 
may  learn  the  spirit  of  praise. 

So  far  as  producing  this  spirit  is  concerned,  I  think 
nothing  is  so  well  calculated  to  do  it  as  music.  Sing- 
ing is  a  means  of  grace.  And  those  persons  who  are 
gifted  with  song,  or  those  persons  who  can  express 
their  thoughts  in  the  language  of  hymns,  hardly  need 
to  ask  how  they  shall  learn  to  praise.  Music  and  sacred 
hymns  naturally  go  with  Christian  experience.  They 
were  born  out  of  it,  and  will  live  with  it  to  the  end 
of  time,  I  suppose.  And  if  Christians  conferred  with 
each  other  more  with  reference  to  God's  goodness  to 
them,  and  helped  each  other  more  to  sing  and  to 
praise,  their  communion  in  these  matters  would  go 
far  toward  forming  the  habit  of  praise  in  them. 


88  LECTURE-KOOM   TALKS. 

Another  question  is,  "  How  are  we  to  be  redeemed 
from  the  stigma  which  too  often  rests  upon  Christian 
experience,  that  it  is  melancholy  and  morbid?"  This 
would  be  to  a  great  extent  removed  if  we  learned 
more  to  make  the  natural  language  of  Christian  life 
the  language  of  praise,  of  exhilaration,  of  song,  of 
gladness.  These  things  are  attractive  to  children 
even.  They  are  attractive  to  all  persons.  A  radiant 
piety,  a  loving  piety,  a  hopeful  piety,  and,  above  all, 
a  singing  and  praising  piety,  wins  every  class  of  men, 
and  honors  the  name  of  Christ  in  the  world. 

I  cannot,  therefore,  emphasize  too  much  the  duty 
of  praise  in  the  family  and  in  the  sanctuary. 

I  was  struck,  in  college,  with  Dr.  Humphrey's  habit 
of  mind.  He  used  to  go  through  a  whole  prayer,  of 
a  Sabbath  morning,  in  which  every  single  sentence, 
from  beginning  to  end,  was,  "  We  thank  thee,  0  God." 
I  have  heard  him  pray  for-nearly  fifteen  minutes,  dur- 
ing which  time  he  did  not  utter  one  single  sentence 
which  had  not  that  initial  form.  It  was  a  prayer  of 
thanksgiving  from  beginning  to  end.  It  stamped  it- 
self upon  my  young  and  sensitive  mind. 

Now,  if  parents,  as  sometimes  they  do,  and  properly, 
spend  a  prayer  in  confession  of  sin,  that  produces  a 
profound  impression  on  the  child  ;  but  if  it  is  confes- 
sion to-day,  and  to-morrow,  and  the  next  day,  and  the 
next,  if  in  their  prayers  they  continually  wade  knee- 
deep  and  neck-deep  in  a  mere  sense  of  sin,  what 
impression  is  produced  on  the  child  and  on  the  house- 
hold ?  If,  on  the  other  hand,  while  this  state  of  soul 
is  recognized  Avith  profound  sensibility,  there  is  the 
sense  of  victory  constantly  expressed  in  the  utterances 


PRAISE   AND   PRAYER.  89 

of  parents  in  the  presence  of  the  household  ;  if  they 
bear  testimony  to  the  goodness  of  God  to  them  in  the 
family  and  out  of  it,  in  their  individual  and  social  his- 
tory, in  dangers,  in  temptations,  in  joys  and  sorrows, 
in  hopes  and  fears,  and  they  find  perpetual  argument 
for  thanksgiving, — it  lends  a  motive  for  piety  in  the 
young,  which  is  good. 

Q.  Is  it  proper  to  go  to  God  with  secular  troubles,  and  make 
them  subject-matter  of  prayer?  Would  you,  for  instance,  en- 
courage men  who  are  in  debt  to  pray  that  God  would  help  them 
to  means  with  which  to  discharge  their  indebtedness  ? 

I  would.  Any  trouble  that  a  man  would  go  to  his 
earthly  father  about,  he  may  go  to  his  God  about. 
People  say,  "  Do  you  believe  that,  contrary  to  all  the 
great  laws  of  nature  and  political  economy,  God  will 
provide  a  sum  of  money  for  a  man  in  answer  to  his 
prayer  ?  Do  you  believe  that  God  contravenes  nat- 
ural laws  to  assist  a  man  -in  paying  his  debts  ?  "  I 
do  not.  But  when  a  man  has  used  his  means  to  the 
uttermost,  and  trusts  in  God,  then  God  uses  his  means 
to  control  natural  laws  for  that  man's  benefit.  I  know 
that,  if  I  succeed,  I  must  succeed,  not  by  having  my 
father's  name,  but  by  putting  forth  my  own  exertions. 
I  know  that  I  must  make  my  own  way  in  life,  and  I 
undertake  to  do  it.  But  if  I  come  to  a  point  where  I 
am  shut  up,  held  back,  so  that  I  cannot  go  forward, 
and  I  do  not  know  what  to  do,  I  may  go  to  my  father 
for  help.  It  is  not  for  the  sake  of  throwing  off"  bur- 
dens, it  is  not  with  the  expectation  that  he  will  con- 
travene natural  laws,  that  I  go  to  him.  I  go  to  him 
because  I  have  used  up  my  stock  of  knowledge  of 
natural  laws  ;  and  I  say  to  him,  "  You  are  older  and 


90  LECTURE-ROOM  TALKS. 

larger  than  I  am  ;  cannot  you  use  your  knowledge  of 
those  laws  so  as  to  help  me  ?  "  And  he  says,  "  Yes,  I 
can."  And  he  does.  And  nobody  thinks  there  is 
anything  strange  in  it.  Everybody  understands  that 
a  father  can  use  his  knowledge  of  natural  laws  for  his 
child  without  violating  those  laws.  But  when  you 
speak  of  God's  helping  men  in  their  secular  affairs, 
people  are  aghast,  and  say,  "  Do  you  suppose  God  is 
going  to  stop  the  laws  of  nature  for  the  sake  of  en- 
abling men  to  keep  their  bank  account  running  ?  "  I 
understand  that  God  helps  men,  not  by  stopping  nat- 
ural laws,  but  by  using  them  better  for  us  than  we 
can  use  them  for  ourselves.  And  if  there  is  anything 
justified,  it  is  prayer  for  help  in  secular  matters  by 
those  that  love  God.  And  the  oftener  you  go  to  God 
for  help,  the  more  welcome  you  are.  When  a  man 
comes  to  you  for  counsel  concerning  things  that  are 
important  as  affecting  his  welfare,  it  not  only  docs 
not  impoverish  you  to  give  him  the  benefit  of  your 
knowledge  and  wisdom,  but  you  are  gratified  at  his 
consulting  you,  and  you  take  pleasure  in  lending 
yourself  to  him  to  that  extent.  I  cannot  conceive 
of  a  man  who,  having  a  store  of  discreet  knowledge, 
should  be  unwilling  to  use  it  for  the  succor  of  his 
fellowmen.  If  ducats  were  as  plenty  with  me  as 
thoughts,  I  should  be  most  happy  to  lend  to  every- 
body ! 

Now,  when  we  go  to  God,  we  ask  him  to  do  things 
that  please  him.  It  is  more  blessed  for  him  to 
give  to  you  and  to  help  you  than  not  to  do  it.  And 
when  a  man  is  in  trouble,  and  goes  to  God,  and  says, 
"  I  have  done  all  I  can.     I  do  not  know  what  to  do 


PRAISE   AND   PRAYER.  91 

more.  I  am  willing  to  suffer  or  to  be  relieved.  Thy 
will  be  done," — I  believe  that  then  God  hears  and 
answers  prayer,  even  though  the  trouble  be  of  a 
secular  nature.  And  I  do  not  believe  that  in  doing  it 
he  violates  natural  laws  :  I  believe,  on  the  contrary, 
that  he  controls  natural  laws,  and  makes  them  per- 
form errands  of  mercy.  I  should  feel  almost  as 
though  I  were  an  orphan  if  that  doctrine  were  takeu 
out  of  the  world. 

I  recollect  hearing  my  father  say  that  once,  when  he 
came  home  from  a  journey  on  a  Saturday  night  in 
the  dead  of  winter,  mother  met  him  at  the  door,  and 
said,  "  We  have  just  enough  fuel  foi*  this  evening, 
but  none  for  to-morrow."  Anybody  that  ever  lived 
on  Litchfield  Hill  in  winter  knows  that  a  Sunday 
there  and  then  would  not  suggest  summer.  Father 
used  to  be  run  very  close  for  money  in  those  days, 
and  in  this  instance  he  had  none,  and  did  not  know 
where  to  get  any.  And,  in  telling  of  it,  he  said  :  "  I 
felt  like  a  child,  and  I  inwardly  prayed  God  to  help 
me."  And  he  said  ho  had  hardly  finished  praying 
before  an  old  farmer  who  had  never  been  particularly 
friendly,  and  who  did  not  come  to  church  very  often, 
drove  up  to  the  door  with  a  load  of  wood,  which  he 
said  he  "  took  it  into  his  head  he  would  like  to  give  to 
the  parson." 

Do  you  ask  me  if  that  was  an  answer  to  prayer  ? 
"Well,  although  I  would  not  attempt  a  philosophical 
explanation  of  it,  it  is  so  pleasant  to  think  it  was 
an  answer  to  prayer,  and  the  circumstances  point  so 
strongly  in  that  direction,  that  I  prefer  to  think  it  was. 
I  do  not  believe  it  will  do  anybody  any  hurt  to  believe 


92  LECTURE-ROOM   TALKS. 

that  God  loves  us,  that  his  ear  is  ever  open  to  our  cry, 
and  that,  while  we  use  all  lawful  and  known  means  in 
our  own  behalf,  he  stands  ready  to  succor  us  in  the 
day  of  trouble.  I  would  not  for  anything  have  my 
mouth  stopped  so  that  I  could  not  go  to  him  in  my 
extremity,  and  say,  "  I  am  poor  and  wretched ;  0, 
help  !  help  !  " 

Q.  Do  not  you  think  that  the  whole  tendency  of  our  people  is 
toward  an  unseemly,  if  not  a  vulgar,  familiarity  with  the  Divine 
Being  ? 

There  is  undoubtedly  danger  of  using  a  familiarity 
which  indicates  a  want  of  realization  of  God's  pres- 
ence. Nevertheless,  there  is  a  familiarity  of  love  as 
well  as  of  irreverence.  "  Let  us  come  boldly  unto  the 
throne  of  grace,  that  we  may  obtain  mercy,  and  find 
grace  to  help  in  time  of  need."  You  cannot  very 
well  lay  down  rules  about  this  matter.  All  prayers, 
whether  they  are  grave  or  light,  whether  they  are  rev- 
erential or  familiar,  if  they  bear  evidence  that  the 
man  who  utters  them  has  not  a  true  filial  feeling  to- 
ward God,  are  perfunctory  not  only,  but  shocking ; 
while  all  prayers  that  are  the  genuine  expression  of 
filial  feeling  toward  God,  no  matter  how  familiar  they 
may  be,  are  proper,  and  do  not  repel. 

As  to  the  spirit  in  which  we  approach  God,  some- 
times it  is  the  spirit  of  conscience  ;  sometimes  it  is  the 
spirit  of  veneration  ;  sometimes  it  is  the  familiarity  of 
love  ;  sometimes  it  is  the  augustness  of  fear ;  some- 
times it  is  a  sense  of  grandeur ;  sometimes  it  is  a 
desire  for  help  ;  sometimes  it  is  a  feeling  of  nearness 
and  friendship.     The  language   of  prayer  and   the 


PRAISE   AND   PRAYER.  93 

mode  of  approaching   God  vary  through  many  de- 
grees. 

Q.  Is  it  right  for  us  to  go  to  God  with  that  spirit  which  Jacob 
exhibited  when  he  wrestled  with  the  angel,  and  said,  "  I  will  not 
let  thee  go,  except  thou  bless  me  "  ? 

That  is  not  the  language  of  every  day.  It  was  the 
crisis  of  the  patriarch's  life,  and  he  was  kindled  to  an 
ecstasy  of  feeling.  When  the  mind  is  roused  up  as 
his  was,  it  chooses  its  own  language.  There  are  crises 
in  every  man's  life,  of  distress,  and  of  ecstatic  desire, 
in  which  the  soul  mounts  up  and  employs  language 
tliat  could  not  ordinarily  be  employed.  And  when 
the  feeling  justifies  it,  there  is  nothing  that  the  soul 
may  not  use.  When  the  soul  is  in  battle,  it  seizes 
anything  for  a  shaft,  and  lets  it  fly.  And  when  a 
man  is  in  anguish  and  agony,  and  is  impleading  God, 
he  does  not  stand  on  grammar  or  words.  But  when 
a  man  in  an  ordinary  key  of  feeling  brings  down  this 
language  of  paroxysmal  moments  and  employs  it,  it  is 
wrong,  of  course. 


94  LECTURE-ROOM   TALKS. 


EEVIVALS    OF    EELIGION. 


F  I  were  asked  to  give  the  clearest  illustra- 
tion possible  of  the  difference  between  doc- 
trine and  experience,  I  would  point  to  the 
doctrine  of  the  soul's  dependence  on  Christ, 
and  to  the  experience  portrayed  in  this  hymn  of  Top- 
lady's,  which  we  have  sung.*  It  is  a  hymn  that 
breathes,  I  would  almost  say,  the  Christianest  of  ex- 
periences. It  expresses  jointly  the  feeling  of  longing, 
the  sense  of  personal  helplessness,  and  the  sense  of  the 
divine  sufficiency,  to  a  degree  that  I  hardly  know  to  be 
equalled  in  any  other  hymn.  Toplady  was  one  of  the 
sternest  Calvinists,  and  one  of  the  stoutest  controversial- 
ists. He  and  Wesley  filled  England  with  controversy 
on  the  Arminian  question.  And  it  is  remarkable  how 
two  men,  who  could  not  preach  together  or  live 
together  in  England,  can  be  shut  up  in  a  hymn-book 
together  without  any  trouble.  Their  hymns  never 
quarrel.  In  going  from  the  books  of  one  of  them 
to  those  of  the  other,  you  are  impressed  with  their 
strong  mutual  opposition  ;  but  you  may  sing  Charles 
Wesley's  hymns,  and  John  Wesley's  hymns,  and  Top- 
lady's  hymns,  up,  and  down,  and  across,  and  there  is 
no  jar  between  them,  —  not  so  much  as  a  railroad- 
train  has  when  it  is  switched  from  one  track  to  an- 
other that  is  parallel  with  it. 

In  the  first  place,  the  theological  views  of  these 
men  were  doctrinal.     That  is  to  say,  the  forms  of 
*  "Rock  of  Ages." 


REVIVALS   OF   RELIGION.  95 

truth  that  they  attempted  to  expound  were  intellectu- 
ally conceived  and  stated.  And  they  were  oppugnant. 
But  when  they  abandoned  the  realm  of  mere  thought, 
and  lifted  themselves  up  into  the  sphere  of  true  Chris- 
tian feeling,  they  did  not  differ.  The  Arminian  was 
as  Calvinistic  as  the  Calvinist,  and  the  Calvinist  was 
as  Arminian  as  the  Arminian.  There  was  no  differ- 
ence between  them  when  both  of  them  were  really 
inflamed  by  a  common  love  of  Christ,  and  by  a  com- 
mon sense  of  their  dependence  upon  him. 

I  know  not  how  it  is  with  you,  but  with  me,  as  T 
grow  older,  there  is  an  increasing  love  for  these  plead- 
ing hymns  ;  these  hymns  that  "  seem,"  in  the  lan- 
guage of  another  hymn,  "  to  throw  their  arms  about 
the  neck  of  Christ  and  plead."  And  this  hymn,  and 
the  one  that  is  set  to  the  tune  of  "  Williams,"  in 
our  Plymouth  Collection,  commencing 

"  When  I  survey  the  wondrous  cross," 

become  sweeter  and  sweeter  to  me  as  I  grow  older. 
In  other  words,  I  have  more  and  more  a  sense  of  the 
soul's  need  of  God ;  and  somehow  the  old-fashioned 
hymns,  that  plead  on  their  knees,  as  it  were,  meet  my 
wants  better  than  the  newer  hymns.  Those  are 
beautiful  and  useful ;  but  I  find  myself  guided  back 
to  the  more  childlike  and  utter  abandonment  of 
the  soul  before  God.  And  it  seems  to  me  there  is 
no  person  who  has  been  a  Christian,  who  has  not, 
first  or  last,  walked  in  the  footsteps  of  these  hymns 
of  prostration  and  yearning  and  pleading.  The  ex- 
perience may  not  come  in  a  concentrated  form  ;  it 
may  not  come  so  that  one  can  take  it  out,  and  look  at 


96  LECTURE-ROOM   TALKS. 

it  intellectually,  and  pronounce  it  to  be  just  this  or 
that.  But  humiliation  before  God,  in  view  of  one's 
sin  and  of  one's  consciousness  of  the  sufficiency  of 
Christ,  and  an  irresistible  yearning  for  Christ's  help, 
love,  and  forgiveness,  —  these  have  been,  in  a  greater 
or  less  degree,  the  experience  of  every  man  that  has 
the  right  to  call  himself  a  Christian.  Some  come  to 
it  in  one  way,  and  some  in  another.  It  is  modified 
very  much  in  men  of  different  dispositions  by  the  edu- 
cation which  they  have  received.  Education  goes  far 
in  such  matters.     But,  after  all,  the  element  is  there. 

Man  is  inferior.  He  is  not  only  weak,  but  guilty. 
His  own  conscience  condemns  him ;  and  God  is  greater 
than  his  conscience.  And  he  has  need  of  help  in  the 
Mediator,  in  the  Intercessor,  in  Christ  Jesus.  And  a 
sense  of  this  need  I  suppose  to  be  an  inseparable  part 
of  every  true  Christian  experience.  A  great  many 
persons,  however,  undoubtedly,  take  the  initial  steps 
of  a  Christian  life,  and  live  more  or  less  Christianly 
for  years  before  they  are  brought  to  this  state  of  feel- 
ing. Sometimes  men  are  shut  up  unto  sorrow  ;  some- 
times they  are  shut  up  unto  despondency  ;  sometimes 
they  are  shut  up  unto  doubts,  and  are  beset  with 
temptations  to  unbelief;  and  some  come  in  one  way, 
and  some  in  another,  to  the  fulness  of  a  Christian 
life.  Just  as  vessels  sailing  for  New  York  from  the 
east,  the  southwest,  the  south,  and  all  points  of  the 
compass,  converge,  and  make  the  same  port,  so  Chris- 
tians with  widely  different  experiences  all  tend  to  the 
same  spiritual  condition. 

Now  there  are  times  in  which  the  bent  of  the  mind 
in  the  direction  of  a  sense  of  helplessness  and  of  want 


REVIVALS   OF   RELIGION.  97 

takes  on  the  social  form,  and  leads  to  the  organization 
of  societies  or  churches  or  congregations  in  the  com- 
munity. And  sometimes  the  whole  community  are, 
by  a  conjunction  of  circumstances,  empowered  by  the 
Divine  Spirit,  and  led  to  feel  their  need.  And  that  is 
the  beginning  of  what  we  call  the  coming  in  of  a 
general  religious  movement. 

I  think  you  will  find,  ordinarily,  that,  where  the 
circumstances  in  which  men  live  are  such  as  to  puff 
them  up,  and  make  them  feel  their  own  strength  and 
sufficiency,  revivals  of  religion  scarcely  ever  take  place. 
But  where  men  are  in  circumstances  in  which  the  con- 
science is  educated,  in  which  everybody  is  led  to  feel 
how  frail  earthly  strength  is,  in  which  sickness,  or 
trouble,  or  difficulties  of  some  sort  strike  the  com- 
munity at  large,  you  will  find  the  thoughts  of  men 
beginning  to  turn  away  from  the  world  as  a  sufficient 
stay  and  comfort  to  the  soul. 

The  question  arises.  Is  there  such  a  state  in  the 
community  now  ?  *  There  are  always  some,  here  and 
there,  in  well-instructed  circles,  who  are  asking  to  be 
shown  the  way  to  Jesus ;  but  what  are  the  symptoms 
in  respect  to  the  whole  community  ?  Well,  it  is  very 
difficult  for  me  to  say.  I  have  been  of  the  opinion, 
for  a  long  time,  that  the  very  great  trials  through 
which  we  have  passed  as  a  people  would  have  the 
effect  to  give  the  conscience  of  this  nation  a  turn  up- 
ward, and  that  we  had  reason  to  expect  that  from  this 
hio-her  tone  of  the  moral  sense  there  would  be  a  quick- 
ened  feeling  of  religion.  On  the  other  hand,  however, 
there  is  a  spirit  of  worldliness.     The  fever  of  spccu- 

*  January,  1866. 
5  O 


98  LECTUEE-ROOM   TALKS. 

latioii,  the  hope  of  quick  and  large  gains,  is  widely 
diffused,  is  very  strong,  and  is  adverse  to  any  deep 
and  broad  religious  movement.  Nevertheless,  I 
learn  with  great  delight  tliat  there  are  many  signs 
of  the  presence  of  God  among  his  churches.  Not 
that  I  hear  of  great  revivals ;  but  there  are  tidings 
from  various  quarters  of  religious  awakening. 

A  Methodist  brother  of  a  neighboring  church,  who 
called  on^ne  a  few  nights  ago,  told  me  that  in  the  min- 
isters' meetings  which  he  attended  they  had  almost 
ceased  to  discuss  speculative  qviestions ;  that  personal 
experience  and  individual  piety  had  absorbed  every 
other  topic ;  that  these  meetings  were  so  interesting 
that  the  pastors  from  the  villages  round  about  were 
coming  into  the  city  on  Mondays  to  kindle  their  torch 
at  this  new  light  and  flame  ;  and  that  there  existed 
in  the  churches  of  the  vicinity  strong  indications  of 
an  approaching  general  revival  of  religion.  A  brother 
stated  at  one  of  these  meetings  that  he  had  travelled 
through  the  West,  and  that  he  found  everywhere  in 
that  region  much  the  same  state  of  feeling. 

It  is  like  water  to  a  thirsty  soul  to  believe  that  we 
can  again  come  out  of  our  external  excitements,  and 
within  these  sacred  enclosures  hear,  as  of  old,  and 
even  more  abundantly,  some  rejoicing  in  the  hope  of 
salvation,  and  others  inquiring,  "  AVhat  shall  I  do  to 
be  saved  ?  "  The  anticipation  is  almost  -a  fruition. 
And  I  look  with  the  utmost  desire  and  longing  in 
this  direction.  I  would  that  we  again  might  have  the 
rain  as  aforetime.  But  if  God  is  visiting  his  people 
anywhere,  let  us  rejoice,  and,  as  far  as  we  may,  go 
with  them  that  are  walkino;  nearest  to  Christ. 


REVIVALS   OF   RELIGION.  99 

Q.  How  far  can  we  go  in  doing  anything  toward  the  bringing 
of  a  revival  of  religion  into  our  midst  ?  How  far  ought  we  to  go, 
generally,  and  just  now  how  far  ought  we  to  go  ? 

The  difficulty  with  persons  on  this  subject  has  been 
misapprehension,  arising,  perhaps,  from  earlier  teach- 
ing. It  was  formerly  supposed,  and  I  think  honestly, 
by  the  best  men,  that  there  were,  as  you  might  say, 
three  modes  of  the  activity  of  the  Spirit  of  God.  One 
was  a  general  and  diffused  action.  Another  was  a 
special  action.  A  third  was  the  outpouring  of  the 
Spirit  in  revivals  of  religion.  It  was  thought  that 
the  work  of  God's  Spirit  was  purely  divine.  Men 
were  shocked  when  they  saw  behind  it  a  certain  sort 
of  machinery  from  which  it  seemed  to  proceed.  So 
that  it  came  to  be  the  theory  and  faith  of  the  church 
that  revivals  of  religion  were  the  result  of  the  direct 
divine  influence  upon  the  minds  of  men.  But,  as  in- 
telligence has  increased  among  Christians,  men  have 
come  more  and  more  toward  a  better  ground, — 
namely,  that,  while  a  revival  is  the  work  of  the  Spirit 
of  God,  it  is  not  in  any  sense  exclusively  the  work  of 
God's  Spirit.  That  is  to  say,  the  laws  of  the  human 
mind  are  as  much  observed  and  obeyed  in  revivals  as 
out  of  them  ;  and  the  work  of  the  Spirit  of  God  in 
revivals  is  according  to  the  law  of  the  work  of  the 
Spirit  of  God  out  of  revivals. 

No  one  supposes  that  there  is  any  getting  up  of 
education  by  machinery  when  a  parent  educates 
his  child,  so  that  when  he  is  old  he  shall  not  depart 
from  his  early  instructions.  And  yet,  you  might  say 
to  parents  :  "  You  have  been  getting  up  your  child's 
virtue  ;  you  have  been  arranging  it."     Certainly  they 


100  LECrURE-ROOM   TALKS. 

have,  if  tliey  are  wise  or  discreet.  In  other  words, 
they  have  been  doing  their  part  of  the  work.  Per- 
sons say,  "  You  have  been  getting  up  a  revival  of 
religion."  So  I  have  been  getting  up  a  revival  of 
religion,  just  as  I  get  up  a  harvest.  God  holds  his 
great  elements  to  their  work,  and  in  faith  of  the  work- 
ing of  those  elements  I  do  my  part  of  the  work. 

What  is  a  revival  of  religion  ?  It  is  a  state  of 
the  community  in  which  the  whole  or  a  large  part 
of  its  members  are  brought  into  a  common  religious 
feeling.  It  differs  from  individual  awakenings  and 
conversions  in  this,  that  it  takes  the  form  of  social 
contagion.  There  are  times  in  which  the  community 
are  susceptible  of  feeling  together  in  religion.  We 
see  the  same  thing  with  regard  to  pleasure.  There 
are  periods  in  which  the  spirit  of  gayety  is  electrical. 
It  is  so  in  business.  There  are  times  when  it  seems 
as  though  the  whole  mind  of  the  community  was  ab- 
sorbed in  business.  The  same  is  true  of  politics. 
And,  blessed  be  God,  it  is  so  in  religious  matters. 
There  are  times  when  the  hearts  and  minds  of  the 
community  seem  to  bear  off  in  moral  directions. 

Now,  those  times  in  which  there  is  a  susceptibility 
to  a  common  religious  feeling  are  the  times  when  God 
is  pleased  to  make  our  influence  more  direct  and 
powerful  upon  the  hearts  and  lives  of  men.  And 
what  may  we  do  to  promote  this  susceptibility  ?  Any- 
thing that  tends  to  draw  away  the  minds  of  the  com- 
munity from  an  overweening  worldliness ;  anything 
that  tends  to  produce  a  common  tender  moral  feeling, 
is  a  legitimate  preparation  for  a  revival  of  religion. 
Anything  that  tends  to  bring  the  great  spiritual  truths 


KEVIVALS   OF  RELIGION.  101 

of  our  being  steadily  before  the  attention  and  con- 
science of  the  mass  of  the  community  is  a  legitimate 
preparation  for  a  revival  of  religion.  Anything  that 
tends  to  quicken,  and  purify,  and  deepen,  and  strength- 
en the  tone  of  the  moral  feeling  in  the  community  is 
a  legitimate  preparation  for  a  revival  of  religion. 

AVell,  as  to  details,  little  prayer-meetings  and  uni- 
versal meetings  are  matters  of  expediency.  Where 
the  result  shows  that  they  are  needed,  they  are  justi- 
fied. Doubtless,  in  the  hands  of  unskilful  persons, 
things  may  be  done  that  are  unwise.  But  I  think  the 
prejudice  against  laboring  for  revivals  of  religion  arises 
from  a  misapprehension  of  the  conditions  of  religious 
influences  in  this  world.  And  if  it  is  right  for  you 
to  "  get  up  "  the  conditions  out  of  which  flow  educa- 
tion, refinement,  or  accomplishments  of  any  sort,  then 
it  is  right  for  you  to  get  up  the  conditions  out  of 
which  flow  reformation  of  morals,  sound  religious  in- 
struction, and  deep  religious  feeling.  But  it  is  not 
attempted  to  take  the  work  out  of  the  hands  of  God. 
The  command  is,  "  Work  out  your  own  salvation  with 
fear  and  trembling  ;  for  "  —  and  that  is  the  ground 
and  reason  why  you  should  do  it  —  "  it  is  God  that 
worketh  in  you."  Hence  you  shall  not  work  in  vain. 
Otherwise  you  would. 


102  LECTURE-ROOM   TALKS. 


LOVE    TO    ENEMIES. 

Q.  Will  j'ou  please  lay  before  us  your  idea  of  the  meaning  of 
the  New  Testament  command,  "  Love  your  enemies  "  V 

HILE  yet  we  were  enemies,  Christ  died  for 
us.  Did  you  ever  attempt  to  imagine  what 
must  have  been  the  state  of  mind  that  God 
was  in  when  he  looked  upon  those  who  were 
not  repentant,  who  were  his  enemies  still,  and  who 
were  so  vagrant  as  to  reject  his  life-long  services,  as 
to  cause  his  passion,  and  as  to  work  out  his  death? 
Did  you  ever  attempt  to  imagine  what  must  have  been 
that  state  of  mind  by  wliich,  after  having  toiled  for 
them,  and  borne  with  them,  and  taught  them,  he  could 
in  the  act  of  dying  pray  for  them,  saying,  "  They  know 
not  what  they  do  ?  "  Do  you  get  any  idea  of  what 
the  divine  feeling  is  toward  a  wicked,  hating,  and 
hateful  being,  which  manifests  itself  in  dying  for  him 
as  the  means  of  his  restoration  ?  The  question,  I 
suppose,  which  troubles  our  brother,  is  whether  we 
can  love  and  forgive  a  man  wlio  has  done  us  wrong. 
No  one  doubts  that  we  can  forgive  and  love  those  who, 
having  done  us  wrong,  repent  of  that  wrong.  A  per- 
son who  is  a  thousandth  part  of  a  Christian  can  do 
that.  But  the  question  is.  Does  not  the  spirit  of 
Christ  (and  that  is  the  rule  of  Christian  duty)  rise 
higher  than  that  ? 

In  the  first  place,  it  does  not  follow,  because  you 
have  a  benevolent  and  forgiving  spirit,  that  you  ap- 
prove a  man's  conduct  or  his  disposition.    Forgiveness 


LOVE   TO   ENEMIES.  103 

does  not  imply  that  you  approve  the  moral  attitude  of 
the  man  you  forgive.  For  instance,  often,  in  the  street, 
as  I  go  down  the  hill  on  my  way  to  the  Perry,  I  pass 
a  throng  of  little  ragged,  dirty  urchins.  Impudent 
wretches  they  are,  many  of  them  ;  and  although  in 
the  main  they  arc  respectful  to  me,  yet  once  in  a  while 
they  blackguard.  I  walk  along,  thinking  about  some- 
thing else,  and  all  at  once  I  find  myself  bawled  out 
at  by  these  children,  —  many  of  whom  were  not  born 
here.  It  touches  nature  a  little  bit  at  the  instant; 
but  the  moment  I  have  time  to  think  I  laugh  at  my- 
self, and  say,  "Those  children,  —  how  little  they  know! 
They  are  just  reflecting  the  prejudices  of  their  parents. 
And  how  much  less  in  their  thought  is  what  they  say 
than  in  my  pride."  And  my  feeling  toward  them  is  : 
"  My  dear  little  rascals,  if  I  had  it  in  my  power,  I 
would  jerk  you  out  of  this,  and  put  you  to  school, 
and  have  you  going  in  the  right  way  very  quick !  " 
It  is  a  perfectly  benevolent  state  of  mind  that  I  am  in. 
I  do  not  like  or  approve  their  conduct ;  nor  do  I  con- 
sider the  attitude  of  their  minds  lovely ;  but  I  com- 
passionate them. 

Now,  if  you  know  how  to  distinguish  between  a 
man  and  his  disease,  you  know  how  to  distinguish 
between  a  mind  and  moral  forces.  You  are  conscious 
that  you  can  love  a  man  that  is  diseased  physically ; 
and  you  ought  to  be  able  to  love  a  man  that  is  morally 
diseased.  If  I  say  that  I  will  forgive  a  man  when  he 
repents,  and  not  before,  I  do  not  know  what  to  do  with 
the  example  of  Christ.  He  did  not  wait  till  I  re- 
pented. He  did  not  wait  till  I  was  good.  I  should 
not  have  been  good  had  it  not  been  for  his  forerun- 


104  LECTURE-EOOM   TALKS. 

ning  grace.  It  was  Christ  that  waked  me  up  and 
made  me  sensitive  to  that  which  was  wrong.  It  was 
Christ's  influence  on  my  mind  that  brought  my  con- 
science to  feel  how  hateful  my  life  was  toward  him. 
And  when  I  began  to  feel  that  I  had  passed  from  death 
to  life,  I  was  distinctly  conscious  that  I  came  to  it  by 
the  forerunning  grace  of  the  Lord  God.  He  saved 
me  while  I  was  an  enemy,  proud,  selfish,  and  unlovely. 
And  that  always  comes  back  to  me  as  a  rule  of  duty. 
And  when  I  see  men  doing  things  that  are  wrong  and 
wicked,  wickedness  and  wrong  arc  hateful  to  me  ;  but 
there  is  the  feeling  of  benignity,  compassion,  tender 
sorrow  for  them.  And  I  am  sure  that  it  is  Christ's 
spirit.  And  I  am  sure  of  another  thing,  —  that  you 
will  not  be  half  as  likely  to  err  on  that  side  as  on  the 
other. 

Q.  Suppose  your  son  had  been  killed  during  the  late  struggle, 
and  suppose  a  man  should  come  to  you  and  say,  "  I  was  on  the 
other  side  during  the  war,  and  my  sympathy  was  with  the  South, 
and  I  indulged  myself  in  sending  over  a  few  muskets,  a  little  pow- 
der, and  a  few  bullets  to  be  used  in  the  Southern  army  ;  and  it  so 
happened,  to  my  certain  knowledge,  that  one  of  those  muskets, 
and  some  of  that  powder,  and  one  of  those  bullets,  were  the  means 
of  the  death  of  your  son,"  —  could  you  love  that  man  ? 

If  I  saw  a  man  that  had  slain  my  son,  I  believe  I 
could  forgive  him  and  love  him.  I  could  love  him, 
not  in  the  sense  of  affinity  of  qualities,  not  on  the 
ground  of  personal  attractiveness,  but  in  the  sense  in 
which  God  loves  wicked  men,  with  compassion,  with 
sorrow,  with  pity,  and  with  a  perfect  willingness  to 
bear  and  forbear  with  him,  and  work  for  him.  Let 
me  read  a  passage  that  will  explain  what  I  mean :  — 


LOVE   TO   ENEMIES.  105 

"  Ye  have  heard  that  it  hath  been  said,  Thou  shalt 
love  thy  neighbor,  and  hate  thine  enemy ;  but  I  say 
unto  you,  Love  your  enemies,  bless  them  that  curse 
you,  do  good  to  them  that  hate  you,  and  pray  for  them 
which  despitcfuUy  use  you  and  persecute  you  ;  that  ye 
may  be  the  children  of  your  Father  which  is  in  heaven  : 
for  he  maketh  his  sun  to  rise  on  the  evil  and  on  the 
good,  and  sendeth  rain  on  the  just  and  on  the  un- 
just." 

Q.  Can  we  love  those  men  who  put  our  charity  and  patience  to 
the  proof,  and  showed  themselves  to  be  worse  than  even  the  fight- 
ing rebels,  by  deliberately  rejoicing,  during  the  war,  over  the  vic- 
tories of  the  South,  in  which  were  slain  thousands  and  thousands 
of  our  young  men  that  went  forth  and  laid  down  their  lives  on  the 
altar  of  their  country  ? 

If  you  mean  to  ask  whether  we  can  love  them  as  a 
man  loves  his  wife  or  his  children,  I  reply  that  we  are 
not  called  to  do  that ;  but  if  you  mean  to  ask  whether 
we  can  love  them  in  the  sense  of  cherishing  a  spirit 
of  benevolence  toward  them,  I  say,  Yes,  unquestion- 
ably we  can  ;  and  we  ought  to  maintain  toward  the 
worst  men  a  love  that  will  enable  us  to  forbear  with 
them,  and  pity  them,  and  pray  for  them,  and  do  them 
good. 

Q.  Are  not  such  passages  of  the  New  Testament  as  that  which 
you  just  read  generally  meant  to  apply  to  cases  where  the  religion 
of  Jesus  Christ  comes  in  conflict  with  the  prevailing  rehgion,  and 
not  to  ordinary  circumstances  of  life  ? 

I  do  not  recognize  any  religion  that  does  not  have 
to  do  with  the  ordinary  circumstances  of  life  ;  and  I 
believe  that  this  passage  takes  in  heathenism,  Juda- 
ism, and  human  nature.     The  language  could  not  be 

5* 


106  LECTURE-ROOM   TALKS. 

stronger.     You   are  to  love   your   enemies.     That   is 
the  word. 

Q.  Christ  did  not  speak  so  when  he  called  the  Pharisees  "  hypo- 
crites," —  did  he  ? 

No,  because  he  was  bringing  up  the  side  of  justice. 
A  judge,  when  sitting  in  court,  cannot  love  the  culprit 
whom  he  condemns  to  prison  or  to  the  gallows  in  the 
sense  that  a  private  citizen  might.  He  is  intrusted 
with  judicial  power.  Christ,  I  think,  pronounced 
judicial  sentence  on  the  wickedness  of  the  rulers  of 
the  Jews,  and  no  more  than  that.  And  you  will  take 
notice  that  Christ's  denunciations  were  aimed  at  offi- 
cial persons  who  used  their  power  to  break  down  and 
destroy  the  poor  and  weak.  He  pronounced  vengeance 
on  them  as  public  malefactors.  He  heaped  upon  them 
epithets  according  to  their  moral  character.  But  there 
is  no  form  of  wickedness  so  gross  that  in  our  individ- 
ual capacity  we  are  not  bound  to  love  the  perpetrator 
of  it.  Towards  even  the  wickedest  men  on  the  globe, 
I  would,  if  they  were  before  me,  exercise  the  spirit  of 
love.  I  should  say,  "  It  is  hard,  Lord  ;  but  I  will  take 
up  my  cross  and  follow  thee,  even  for  these."  For  if, 
in  his  mortal  anguish,  he  could  look  on  men  who  were 
piercing  him,  and  nailing  him,  and  deriding  him,  and 
wagging  their  heads,  saying,  "  Thou  that  savest  others, 
save  thyself,"  and  could  pray,  "  Father,  forgive  them," 
—  what  am  I  that  I  should  set  up  excuses  and  limita- 
tions, and  try  to  justify  my  miserable  human  nature, 
instead  of  following  my  Christ?  I  tell  you,  there  is 
no  one  point  in  this  world  so  critical  of  Christian  char- 
acter as  the  power  to  maintain  love  toward  all  men,  — 


LOVE   TO   ENEMIES.  107 

not  a  love  of  personal  attraction,  but  a  love  of  benev- 
olence, that  begets  a  willingness  to  bear  with  them 
and  worlc  for  them.  And  you  will  take  notice  that 
the  only  prayer  of  the  Lord  on  which  he  made  any 
commentary  was  this :  "  Forgive  us  our  debts  as  we 
forgive  our  debtors."  On  this  official  prayer  he  says  : 
"  For  if  ye  forgive  men  their  trespasses,  your  Heav- 
enly Father  will  also  forgive  you ;  but  if  ye  forgive 
not  men  their  trespasses,  neither  will  your  Heavenly 
Father  forgive  your  trespasses."  He  conditions  a 
man's  own  salvation  ;  he  makes  the  evidence  of  a 
man's  own  piety  to  depend  on  his  capacity  to  forgive. 
And  I  think  there  is  not  another  point  on  which  men 
have  such  a  fight  as  on  that. 


108  LECTURE-ROOM   TALKS. 


THE    DYING    HOUR.* 


HE  lady  whose  happy  departure  is  described 
in  this  letter  was  one  who  scarcely  thought 
herself  worthy  to  be  called  a  Christian. 
She  is  said  to  have  "  often  exchanged  ex- 
periences." Doubtless  she  exchanged  experiences  to 
get  strength  to  hold  on  to  her  hope.  She  very  likely 
asked  others,  "How  are  you  affected?"  or,  "What 
is  your  ground  of  hope?"  —  thus  comforting  herself 
by  discovering  in  them  a  feeling  similar  to  her  own. 
She  probably  was  wont  to  say, "  I  am  not  able  to  speak 
from  personal  experience,  but  only  from  my  general 
knowledge  of  others'  experiences."  It  is  probable 
that  while  she  had  many  hours  of  great  enjoyment, 
she  was  a  person  who,  if  surprised  suddenly  with  the 
question,  put  to  her  emphatically,  "  Do  you  know  that 
you  are  a  Christian  ? "  would  have  trembled,  and 
shrunk  from  answering,  and  said,  "  I  hope  I  am." 
And  if  some  rude  teacher,  such  as  I  have  known, 
had  come  down  on  that  timid  expression,  with  the 
declaration,  "  Yoii  have  no  business  to  merely  hope^  — 
you  ought  to  knoiv  1 "  she  would  probably  have  shrunk 
into  herself,  and  been  silent. 

Here  is  a  case  in  which  the  timid,  trembling  expe- 
rience of  a  whole  Christian  life  culminated  in  the 
most  perfect  serenity,  —  the  most  absolute  and  con- 
scious victory.     It  is  a  very  great  comfort  and  en- 

*  TJomarks  that  followed  the  reading  of  a  letter  in  which  was 
described  the  death  of  a  member  of  Plymouth  Church. 


THE  DYING   HOUR.  109 

couragement  to  those  who  are  of  that  cast  of  mind 
to  know  that,  though  her  day  was  cloudy,  her  evening 
was  one  at  which  the  sun  went  down  without  a  cloud, 
and  shincd  gloriously. 

Not  that  great  confidence  in  the  dying  hour  is  a  cer- 
tain indication  of  a  true  Christian  state  of  mind,  nor 
that  doubts  and  troubles  in  the  dying  hour  are  indica- 
tive of  the  want  of  true  Cliristianity.  Disease  and 
temperament  and  original  disposition  have  much  to 
do  with  it.  I  have  no  doubt  that  there  are  many  per- 
sons who,  from  a  false  education,  have  died  with  gloom 
or  impending  doom  lowering  over  their  heads,  and  to 
whom  in  a  moment,  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye,  all 
heaven  was  full  of  glory.  I  have  no  doubt  that  there 
are  multitudes  of  persons  who  go  hesitant,  who  have 
no  voice  of  cheer  to  send  back,  but  for  whom  the  gate 
swings  wide  open.  I  have  no  doubt  that  great  num- 
bers who  go  out  of  life  defeated  enter  heaven  victori- 
ous, triumphant.  But  where  a  faithful,  conscientious 
person  is  seeking  all  his  life  long  to  do  his  duty,  and 
is  self-admonitory,  and  lays  upon  himself  crosses  and 
burdens,  and  when  there  is  a  steady  progress  in  the 
Christian  life,  and  where  his  reason  is  preserved,  and 
his  last  sickness  does  not  disturb  materially  the  nor- 
mal action  of  the  faculties,  and  he  dies  calm,  and  with 
a  clear  vision,  there  is  something  peculiarly  joyful  to 
me.  If  a  person  has  lived  all  his  life  long  active  and 
energetic  and  faithful,  I  do  not  care,  I  had  almost 
said,  how  he  dies.  Tlie  tenor  of  such  a  man's  life  we 
feel  to  be  the  best  evidence  of  his  salvable  condition. 
If  a  man  has  had  Christian  hope  and  cheer  and  joy 
all  his  life,  wc  do  not  think  that  the  hour  of  death  is 


110  LECTURE-ROOM   TALKS. 

of  much  moment.  The  experience  of  dying  is  but 
transient.  We  do  not  mourn  over  it  if  it  is  not  as 
triumphant  as  we  could  wish.  We  do  not  say,  "  0, 
if  such  a  life  could  have  been  crowned  with  a  mag- 
nificent departure  !  "  But  where  a  person  has  not 
had  half  the  Christian  comfort  that  he  was  entitled 
to  ;  when,  by  reason  of  natural  timidity  and  want  of 
confidence  in  his  own  evideiices,  he  has  been  all  his 
lifetime  subject  to  bondage,  through  fear  of  death, — 
we  want  him  to  have  a  little  taste  of  emancipation 
before  he  goes.  We  have  toward  him  a  feeling  of 
tenderness.  And  I  feel  peculiar  gladness  in  such  a 
case  as  this,  where  the  last  hour  was  one  of  irradi- 
ation and  cheer. 

This  is  one  more  of  the  long  series  of  testimonies 
that  Jesus  is  sufficient  for  the  dying  hour.  We  believe 
him  to  be,  even  when  a  person  goes  out  of  life  as  it 
were  with  his  eyes  shut,  without  his  reason,  with  no 
special  testimony  ;  but  when  a  person  is  brought  to 
death  through  such  circumstances  as  give  him  the 
opportunity  of  being  a  witness,  there  is  something 
peculiarly  cheering  in  adding  his  testimony  to  that 
of  multitudes  who  went  before  him,  to  the  fact  that 
Christ  is  sufficient  for  the  dying  hour. 

My  Christian  brethren,  the  time  to  test  religion  is 
in  the  emergencies  of  life.  When  everything  is  pros- 
perous, when  your  health  is  good,  when  your  spirits 
are  fine,  when  your  circumstances  are  as  you  would 
have  them,  that  you  are  joyful  in  religion  is  a  thing 
to  be  thankful  for ;  but,  after  all,  it  is  not  a  test  of 
religion  in  you.  If  it  were  presented  as  evidence  of 
your  piety,  men  would  say :  "  Why  should  he  not  re- 


THE   DYING   HOUR.  Ill 

joice  ill  the  Lord  ?  He  has  everything  he  wants. 
Take  away  his  property  and  his  family,  and  then  see 
if  he  will  be  such  a  happy  Christian,"  But  if,  when 
a  man  is  unprosperous,  he  has  a  religion  that  will 
carry  him  through,  that  is  a  religion  to  be  proud  of 
—  in  the  better  sense  of  pride.  If,  when  a  man  is  in 
great  affliction,  he  has  a  religion  that  will  hold  him 
up  ;  if,  when  a  man  is  under  vehement  temptation, 
he  has  a  religion  that  is  like  a  coat  of  mail ;  if,  when 
a  man  has  lost  all  that  the  world  clings  to,  he  still  has 
that  which  is  more  to  him  than  houses,  or  lands,  or 
friends,  or  honor  ;  if,  finally,  when  heart  and  flesh 
fail,  God  is  the  strength  of  his  salvation,  his  joy  and 
his  triumph,  —  then  he  has  a  religion  that  is  worth 
having.  And  nobody  can  well  afford  to  be  without 
the  experience  of  intimate  faith  and  love  by  which  the 
soul  is  sustained  in  temptation,  in  adversity,  and  in 
death  itself. 

I  am  not  much  in  favor  of  looking  forward  to  the 
hour  of  death,  as  some  have  done,  and  as  we  have 
sometimes  been  taught  to  do ;  but  I  think  there  is 
occasionally  great  benefit  in  it,  in  tempering  the  im- 
moderation of  our  desires.  There  is  a  salutary  con- 
sideration of  the  shortness  of  life  and  the  certainty 
of  death  which  sobers  men,  quenches  the  fever  that 
gets  into  their  veins,  and  teaches  them  to  be  more 
earnest  and  diligent.  Such  a  forelooking  into  death 
is  proper.  But  to  hang  over  it  merely  for  the  sake  of 
filling  the  soul  with  sorrow  or  alarm  is  not  profitable. 

When  we  look  at  this  death,  and  others  that  are 
taking  place  in  this  church,  I  think  every  one  will  be 
disposed  to  breathe  the  sentence  of  one  of  old,  —  "  Let 


112  ■  LECTURE-EOOM  TALKS. 

me  die  the  death  of  the  righteous,  and  let  my  last  end 
be  like  his," 

Meanwhile,  our  church  triumphant  is  growing  by 
recruits  almost  every  month.  Those  that  are  on  this 
side,  —  are  they  the  ones  that  we  are  to  rejoice  over  ? 
No.  They  are  in  the  battle  yet,  and  are  liable  to  be 
smitten  down  ;  they  are  liable  to  stumble  ;  they  are 
liable  to  have  mishaps :  but  those  who  have  gone  over 
and  stand  on  the  other  side,  —  they  are  safe.  That 
part  of  our  church  which  is  absolutely  and  forever 
safe,  —  how  large  is  it  growing  ! 


THE   TRUE   CHRISTIAN   SOLDIER.  113 


THE  TRUE   CHRISTIAN  SOLDIER. 

ijE  all  know  the  difference  between  military 
parade  and  war,  —  between  a  company  of 
soldiers  gayly  dressed  and  drilled  to  make 
^  harmonious  movements  in  a  quiet  parade- 
ground  where  there  is  no  enemy,  and  a  company  of 
soldiers  equipped  for  fighting  and  led  to  battle.  Sol- 
diers on  parade,  —  how  exact  are  their  movements! 
How  brave  they  look !  How  finely  they  carry  them- 
selves !  How  everybody  admires  them !  and  how 
much  they  admire  themselves  !  But  we  all  know  that 
for  soldiers  to  go  through  military  evolutions  under 
such  circumstances  is  a  very  different  thing  from 
carrying  themselves  on  a  field  of  actual  conflict  in 
such  a  way  that  everybody  looking  upon  them  is  in- 
spired by  their  bravery,  by  their  perseverance,  by  their 
power  to  endure.  For  there  are  a  great  many  soldiers 
that  make  no  show  at  all  at  home  who  are  magnifi- 
cent men  in  the  field  ;  and  I  suppose  there  are  a  great 
many  that  make  a  magnificent  show  at  home  who  are 
good  for  nothing  when  you  bring  them  before  an  enemy. 
The  time  to  test  a  soldier  is  when  he  is  under  fire. 

Now,  as  it  has  pleased  God  to  call  his  disciples  Sol- 
diers, and  as  we  are  of  the  army  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  every  word  of  this  applies  to  our  experience. 
It  is  very  brave  and  very  good  to  be  filled  with  Chris- 
tian sentiments  and  Christian  emotions  in  days  of 
tranquillity  and  peace ;  but  when  God's  people  come 
under  fire,  that,  after  all,  is  the  time  to  test  them. 


114  LECTURE-ROOM  TALKS. 

Anybody  can  run  down  hill ;  but  it  is  not  everybody 
that  can  take  a  load  and  walk  up  hill.  Anybody  can 
be  satisfied  when  he  has  his  own  way ;  but  it  is  not 
everybody  that  knows  how  to  give  up  his  way  to  God's 
■will.  Anybody  can  trust  God  when  he  has  in  his 
hands  everything  that  he  wants,  and  more ;  but  it  is 
not  everybody  who,  when  God  is  taking  out  of  his 
hands  continually,  can  still  say,  "  Though  he  slay  me, 
yet  will  I  trust  in  him."  When  God  builds  up  your 
way,  of  course  you  can  walk  on  it ;  but  when  he  tears 
up  your  foundations,  and  puts  you  in  a  rugged  path, 
where  at  every  step  you  are  liable  to  stumble,  if  then 
you  can  walk,  blessed  are  ye  ! 

Christian  brethren,  we  are  coming  into  a  state  — 
you  have  come  into  it,  many  of  you  —  where  we  are 
to  be  tried ;  and  the  way  we  carry  ourselves  under 
fire,  amidst  secular  embarrassments,  amidst  humil- 
iating reverses,  amidst  forebodings,  in  the  presence 
of  troubles  that  shake  the  spear  and  flash  the  sword 
in  our  eyes,  —  this  will  be  the  test  of  our  real  char- 
acter and  traits. 

For  my  own  part,  I  can  say,  "  Though  he  slay  me, 
yet  will  I  trust  in  him."  Though  he  slay  mine,  though 
he  destroy  the  very  foundations  of  prosperity  under 
my  feet,  though  he  shake  me  out  of  my  place,  my 
heart  and  soul  have  made  a  covenant  with  God,  and 
I  will  not  distrust  him.  "I  will  not  fear  what  man 
shall  do  unto  me."  I  have  often  quoted  for  you,  and 
I  quote  for  myself,  this  passage :  "  Let  your  conversa- 
tion be  without  covetousness  ;  and  be  content  with 
such  things  as  ye  have  :  for  he  hath  said,  I  will  never 
leave  thee  nor  forsake  thee.     So  that  we  may  boldly 


THE   TRUE   CHRISTIAN   SOLDIER.  115 

say,  The  Lord  is  my  helper,  and  I  will  not  fear  what 
man  shall  do  unto  me." 

It  is  a  good  thing,  brethren,  to  draw  near  to  God. 
It  is  a  good  thing  to  put  your  trust  in  God.  It  is  a 
good  thing  to  be  happy ;  and  it  is  a  good  time  to  be 
happy  now.* 

Q.  Will  you  please  explain  one  point  ?  You  have  frequently- 
spoken  very  strongly  in  regard  to  the  necessity  that  Christians,  in 
these  times,  should  have  a  spirit  of  meekness  and  love,  and  that 
we  should  manifest  such  a  spirit  toward  those  who  are  arrayed 
against  us.  Now,  I  confess  that  this  has  been  a  perfect  puzzle  to 
me.  I  am  so  much  a  natural  man  as  not  to  be  able  to  obey  the 
injunction  which  calls  upon  me  to  love  my  enemies.  And  when 
I  stand  on  Broadway,  in  New  York,  and  see  men  in  regiments, 
who  are  bound  for  the  field  of  battle,  having  been  taken  from  their 
homes,  their  wives,  their  children,  and  all  that  is  dear  to  them  on 
earth,  by  the  conduct  of  miscreants,  I  cannot  understand  how  you 
can  have  such  feelings  as  you  express.  I  wish  you  would  speak 
on  that  subject. 

I  have  no  doubt  that  the  brother  feels  just  as  he 
says  he  does,  and  I  have  no  doubt  that  I  do  not  feel  a 
bit  so.  When  I  consider  the  interests  of  God's  ad- 
vancing kingdom  of  justice,  and  judgment,  and  mercy, 
and  purity,  and  truth,  and  liberty,  I  tliink  that  all  the 
things  in  the  earth  are  of  no  value  at  all  in  the  com- 
parison, and  that  the  earth  might  melt  with  fervent 
heat,  the  elements  dissolve,  and  the  globe  vanish  away, 
rather  than  that  this  kingdom  should  not  prevail. 
"Let  God  be  true,  but  every  man  a  liar."  Let  the 
nations  perish,  let  everything  go,  but  let  the  eternal 
treasures  of  God  —  truth,  liberty,  mercy,  judgment, 
and  purity  —  be  preserved.     I  feel  lifted  up  to  a  sov- 

*  The  first  vear  of  the  war  of  the  Rebellion. 


116  LECTURE-ROOM  TALKS. 

ereigii  height  of  inspiration  when  I  conceive  of  the 
majesty  of  these  treasures,  effluent  from  the  heart  of 
God,  wliich  he  is  seeking  to  embody  in  our  times,  in 
our  earth,  in  this  nation.  Therefore,  when  I  see  jus- 
tice put  down,  I  feel  hke  a  lion.  "When  I  see  a  great 
moral  principle  overborne,  there  are  no  bounds  to  my 
indignation.  When  I  see  a  great  humanity  trodden 
under  foot,  I  long  to  be  a  champion  for  it.  And  when 
I  look  on  the  face  of  an  ignorant,  erring,  wicked  mul- 
titude, I  think  of  a  great  many  things  beside.  For 
the  sake  of  these  great  principles  I  would  give  my  life 
as  quick  as  I  would  pour  out  a  glass  of  water ;  or  I 
will  do  what  is  harder  than  that,  —  I  will  keep  it  and 
use  it  for  forty  years,  if  God  spares  it,  increasing  its 
toil  every  year.  I  will  make  any  sacrifice,  or  perform 
any  labor,  for  the  sake  of  a  moral  principle.  But 
when  I  look  at  the  South,  other  feelings  besides  those 
of  vengeance  are  excited  in  me.  Every  one  of  those 
traitors  are  as  wicked  as  you  think,  and  more.  The 
Floyds,  the  Davises,  the  Toombses,  the  Rhetts,  and  all 
such  as  they,  are  more  wicked  than  we  know ;  and 
yet  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is  the  Saviour  held  up  for 
every  such  one.  They  are  all  imijaortal,  they  are  all 
like  myself  pilgrims  toward  the  bourne  of  the  eternal. 
Arid  when  I  think  how  many  ignorant  creatures  are  led 
by  "these  base  men  to  do  wicked  things,  half  of  the  wick- 
edness of  which  they  do  not  know,  I  feel  compassion 
for  them,  and  am  sorry  for  them.  If  they  array  them- 
selves against  justice,  it  is  necessary  that  they  should 
be  overborne  ;  but  not  one  blow  more  than  is  neces- 
sary for  the  defence  of  the  principle  assailed  should  be 
struck.     We  are  not  authorized  to  inflict  vengeance. 


THE   TRUE   CHRISTIAN   SOLDIER.  117 

"  Vengeance  is  mjne,  I  will  repay,  saitli  tlie  Lord. 
Therefore,  if  thine  enemy  hunger,  feed  him ;  if  he 
thirst,  give  him  drink  ;  for  in  so  doing  thou  shalt  heap 
coals  of  fire  on  his  head."  About  the  use  of  every 
single  sword  and  spear  and  ball  needful  to  assert  a 
divine  principle  there  should  be  no  squeamishness. 
I  am  for  war  just  so  far  as  it  is  necessary  to  vindicate 
a  great  moral  truth.  But  one  particle  of  violence  be- 
yond that  is  a  flagrant  treason  against  the  law  of  love. 
And  I  can  say  to-night,  that  I  would  go  to  war  with 
every  State  in  the  Southern  Confederacy,  if  called  of 
God  to  join  the  army,  and  would  hold  them  to  the 
conflict  till  the  cause  of  right  was  vindicated  ;  and 
that  I  could,  at  the  same  time,  pray  for  those  mis- 
guided men  as  easily  as  to-night  I  can  pray  for  my 
own  babes.  I  am  as  sorry  for  them  as  for  any  set  of 
men  in  the  world.  I  do  not  think  I  utter  a  prayer 
on  ■  any  morning  that  I  do  not  pray  for  them,  and 
that  God  does  not  see  my  feeling  of  tenderness  and 
sorrow  toward  them.  And  that  is  not  all.  I  regard 
them  as  citizens  yet.  I  love  this  whole  country.  I 
love  it  in  its  past  and  in  its  prospective  history.  God 
do  so  to  me,  and  more  also,  if  that  hour  comes  when 
I  do  not  feel  for  all  of  them,  misguided  though  they 
be,  as  anxiously  as  for  my  own  kin  and  brethren.  We 
cannot  afford  to  be  very  critical  with  wickedness.  I 
leave  these  questions  with  my  God,  and  I  say.  What 
force  is  needful  I  will  lay  out  for  the  maintenance  of 
great  moral  principles  ;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  I  will 
pray  for  the  misguided  men  who  oppose  those  princi- 
ples ;  and  there  is  not  a  thing  that  I  can  do  for  them 
which  I  will  not  do  as  cheerfully  as  I  will  eat  bread. 


118  LECTURE-ROOM   TALKS. 

Well,  I  do  not  know  as  the  brother  understands  this 
matter  any  better  now  than  he  did  before. 

No,  sir ! 

Then  I  must  quote,  as  applicable  to  you,  "  The  nat- 
ural man  receiveth  not  the  things  of  the  Spirit,  neither 
can  he  know  them,  because  they  are  spiritually  dis- 
cerned." After  a  little  practice  I  think  you  will  be- 
gin to  discern  them  spiritually. 

But  the  trouble  is,  I  do  not  want  to. 

That  is  the  case  with  all  sinners.  They  must  do 
what  they  do  not  want  to.  We  make  our  fractious 
children  do  what  they  do  not  want  to ;  and  the  Lord 
will  make  you.  I  confess,  I  think  it  will  be  a  great 
while  before  you  will  be  an  apt  scholar,  but  I  think 
you  will  learn. 

However,  there  are  some  difficulties  involved  in  this 
question.  Colonel  Ellsworth,  who  has  just  been  mur- 
dered by  one  of  these  "miscreants"  of  whom  you 
speak,  I  knew  well.  I  was  thinking  of  my  own  sen- 
sations when  I  walked  over  from  New  York,  after 
hearing  the  sad  news.  Why,  I  was  forty  feet  high  ! 
I  was  scared,  I  grew  so  fast.  I  walked  so  lordly  that 
every  step  seemed  to  have  the  weight  of  a  mountain  ; 
and  yet  I  did  not  feel  the  touch  of  the  earth.  For 
one  hour,  I  think,  I  had  enough  volume  of  feeling  to 
have  swept  away  a  continent.  I  was  almost  fright- 
ened at  the  turbulent  and  swelling  tide  within  me. 
And  I  said :  "  Suppose  my  Master  should  come  and 
say,  '  My  child,  what  are  you  doing  with  such  feel- 
ings ?  Where  is  my  teaching  ?  What  are  you  taking 
on  yourself  my  supreme  attribute  for  ?     Vengeance  is 


THE  TRUE   CHRISTIAN  SOLDIER.  119 

mine,  I  will  repay,  saitli  the  Lord.' "  Is  it  not  charm- 
ing how  these  texts  will  exorcise  the  devil  ?  I  put 
that  passage  on  my  head  as  a  crown,  and  I  have  felt 
as  peaceful  as  a  lamb  ever  since.  And  although  it 
was  very  base  and  wicked  for  that  man  to  murder 
Colonel  Ellsworth  as  he  did,  I  can  say  that  had  he 
not  expiated  his  crime,  and  had  the  victim  been  my 
brother,  I  could  still  have  forgiven  him  and  prayed 
for  him. 

Now,  my  brethren,  I  am  going  to  fight  this  battle 
straight  through  from  beginning  to  end,  and  not  lose 
my  Christian  feelings  either.  I  am  going  to  stick  close 
to  my  Saviour.  And,  with  regard  to  the  past,  I  am 
not  sorry  for  one  sermon  that  I  have  preached  among 
you,  or  that  I  have  preached  during  the  last  twenty 
years  of  my  life.  If  the  question  were  put  to  me  to- 
night, "  When  you  look  back  upon  your  public  life 
and  see  what  you  have  done  to  bring  about  the  pres- 
ent issue,  are  you  not  sorry  for  the  ground  you  have 
taken  ? "  I  would  say  No.  I  bless  God  for  every 
word  I  have  spoken  and  every  influence  I  have  ex- 
erted in  that  direction.  Knowing  all  that  was  to 
be,  I  would  do  over  again  all  that  I  have  done  if  the 
same  state  of  things  existed ;  only  my  little  finger 
should  be  as  heavy  as  my  loins  have  been.  n..,^^ 

Now  that  the  time  of  conflict  has  come,  we  must^ 
accept  it.  I  mean  to  go  through  it,  and  you  shall ;  i, 
and  I  pray  God  that  the  whole  Anointed  Cliurch  at|: 
the  North  may,  bearing  the  banner  of  Christ  along'' 
with  the  banner  of  our  country.  The  stars  over  us 
shall  not  be  brighter  and  purer  than  those  that  we 
carry  into  this  very  conflict.     "We  have  had  examples 


120  LECTURE-ROOM   TALKS. 

enough  to  know  that  even  in  such  a  desperate  case  as 
civil  war  a  man  may  be  a  Christian.  I  thank  God 
that  praying  men  have  gone  into  the  army  from  this 
Church.  Every  day  and  night  there  is  a  prayer-meet- 
ing in  our  camp,  and  there  will  be  to  the  end.  And 
I  believe  that  among  our  soldiers  are  those  who,  if 
they  saw  the  bitterest  and  most  blasphemous  of  the 
enemy  suffering  and  dying,  would  relieve  their  suffer- 
ings by  kind  offices,  and  soothe  their  last  moments  by 
comforting  words.  God  grant  that  it  may  be  so,  and 
that,  both  in  the  service  of  the  country  and  in  the  ser- 
vice of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  they  may  be  true  Sol- 
diers ! 


TKUST   IN   GOD.  121 


TRUST    IN    GOD. 

"  I  thank  thcc,  O  Fatlicr,  Lord  of  heaven  and  earth,  because  thou 
hast  hid  these  things  from  the  wise  and  prudent,  and  hast  revealed 
them  unto  babes."  —  Matt.  ix.  22. 


HAT  are  those  things  that  men  cannot  find 

out  by  their  wisdom  or  by  their  prudence, 

but  that  the  simplicity  of  the  child  steers 

it  into?     What  is  it  that  men  find  only 

when  they  come  to  that  condition  in  which  they  are 

obliged  to  act  with  the  simple  trust  of  a  little  child  ? 

"  Come  unto  me,  all  ye  that  labor  and  are  heavy 

laden,  and  I  will  give  you  rest." 

0,  it  is  God  and  rest  in  the  soul !  The  whole  world 
is  on  a  race  ;  and  if  you  ask  them,  "  What  are  you 
after  ?  "  they  will  tell  you,  "  We  are  after  satisfaction, 
soul-rest."  Now,  watch  them,  and  you  will  find  that 
the  strong  ones,  the  tall  ones,  and  the  wise  ones  are 
lagging  in  the  rear,  and  that  the  weak  ones,  the  little 
ones,  and  the  ignorant  ones  —  the  children  —  are  lead- 
ins:  off  the  race.  And  when  it  comes  to  rest  in  the 
soul,  babes  find  it  quicker  than  their  fathers. 

"  Take  my  yoke  upon  you,  and  learn  of  me,  for  I 
am  meek  and  lowly  in  heart :  and  ye  shall  find  rest 
•unto  your  souls  ;  for  my  yoke  is  easy,  and  my  burden 
is  light." 

When  a  limb  has  been  dislocated,  and  the  surgeon 
comes  to  set  it,  he  says  :  "  The  stronger  the  ligaments 
are  that  bind  the  joint  in  its  place,  the  harder  it  is 
going  to  be  to  put  it  where  it  belongs."     And  often- 

6 


122  LECTURE-ROOM   TALKS. 

times  it  is  necessary  to  apply  various  poultices  and 
emollients  to  relax  the  ligaments  and  make  them  sup- 
ple before  the  displacement  can  be  rectified.  It  is  the 
strength  of  the  man's  body  that  is  in  the  way  of  his 
cure.  The  doctor  wants  him  weak  in  order  to  make 
him  strong. 

Now,  it  is  man's  natural  strength  that  is  right  in 
his  way  when  he  is  out  of  joint  with  God  ;  and  he  is 
putting  between  himself  and  the  thing  needed  the 
strength  of  an  arrogant  reason.  That  self-reliance 
which  is  so  necessary  to  him  in  secular  things  is  a 
hindrance  to  him  in  spiritual  things.  That  indepen- 
dent purpose  and  determination  by  which  a  man  is 
carried  forward  through  his  outward  life,  when  it 
comes  to  the  inward  and  spiritual  life  is  the  very 
thing  that  is  an  obstacle  to  his  success.  And  this  is 
the  reason  why  we  do  not  find  God's  yoke  easy,  or  his 
burden  light.  When  we  come  into  the  service  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  we  do  not  find  that  that  service 
gives  us  the  deep  satisfaction  we  expected  it  would. 
We  cannot  see  the  reason  ;  but  God  knows  the  reason. 
He  understands  that  no  person  can  come  into  a  state 
of  perfect  rest  until  he  comes  into  a  state  of  implicit 
trust ;  until  all  his  purposes  and  thoughts  and  feel- 
ings are  so  yielded  to  God  that  at  every  hour  of  the 
day  he  can  say,  "  Thy  will  be  done,"  and  can  roll  his 
burden  upon  God.  Our  burdens  are  easy  when  they 
are  on  God ;  and  our  burdens  are  on  God  when  he  is 
in  us,  and  when  he  fulfils  the  promise  that  he  will 
come  and  abide  with  us,  and  we  are  conscious  that 
our  soul  moves  in  harmony  with  his. 

I  have  known  men  who  were  harassed  almost  to 


TRUST   IN   GOD.  123 

death  about  their  business.  They  could  not  leave  it. 
They  could  not  enjoy  meetings,  home,  or  anything 
else.  They  had  not  time  to  be  sick.  But  they  had 
to  be  sick.  And  after  fighting  disease  and  the  doctor 
as  long  as  they  could,  at  last  they  said,  "  I  must  give 
it  up."  And  when  they  had  made  up  their  minds  to 
let  things  take  their  course,  and  to  have  no  more 
trouble  about  it,  they  began  to  have  rest.  The  mo- 
ment their  will  became  submissive  to  the  divine  will, 
they  found  peace.  But  men  are  not  apt  to  have  this 
as  long  as  they  have  strength  to  fight  with.  It  is, 
usually,  not  until  they  lose  their  strength,  and  become 
like  babes,  that  they  begin  to  have  satisfaction. 

Q.  Can  all  obtain  a  spirit  of  prayer  in  which  they  may  have 
such  perfect  confidence  in  the  divine  wisdom  and  love  and  good- 
ness as  shall  make  them  feel,  when  they  send  up  their  petitions  to 
the  throne  of  grace,  "  God  knows  a  great  deal  better  than  you  do 
about  the  things  for  which  you  are  praying,  and  he  will  answer 
accordingly  "  ? 

Sometimes  I  have  gone  with  a  check  to  the  bank, 
and  the  teller  has  looked  at  it  and  at  me,  and  after 
seeing  who  I  was,  and  that  the  check  was  genuine, 
has  said,  "  What  will  you  take  it  in  ? "  meaning, 
"  Will  you  have  it  in  gold,  or  silver,  or  bills  ?  And 
if  in  bills,  of  what  denomination  shall  they  be  ?  " 
Sometimes,  in  answering  my  prayers,  God  has,  as  it 
were,  said  to  me:  "  What  will  you  take  it  in?  Will 
you  take  it  in  the  thing,  and  nothing  else,  or  will  you 
take  it  in  that  which  the  thing  was  expected  to  give 
you,  —  namely,  such  a  spiritual  insight  or  joy  as  you 
could  not  have  from  specific  answers  ?  "  I  think  some 
men  —  not  all  —  can  rise  to  a  state  of  mind  in  which 


124  LECTURE-ROOM   TALKS. 

the  conception  of  God's  entire  control  of  things  is 
such  that  there  is  always  peacefulness  in  the  way  in 
which  they  speak ;  not  so  much  from  a  sense  of  spe- 
cial answers  to  petitions  as  from  a  sense  that  God 
governs  and  overrules  all  things  well. 

If  there  is  anything  in  the  world  that  a  person  has 
a  right  to  go  to  God  about,  it  is  a  child.  And  where 
a  child  is  in  such  a  course  that  it  is  bound  to  hell, 
and  the  process  seems  as  though  it  were  nearly  con- 
summated, the  question  is  whether  the  parent  can  rise 
to  such  a  state  as  to  be  perfectly  at  peace  ;  or  whether, 
under  such  circumstances,  the  parent  has  not  a  right 
to  demand  of  God  a  specific  answer  to  the  petition 
offered.  I  think  some  have  risen  to  such  a  sense 
of  the  glory  of  God,  of  the  infinite  desirableness  of 
having  God's  name  honored  and  glorified,  that,  for 
the  hour  at  least,  even  their  natural  affections  were 
swallowed  up,  and  they  felt  that  they  could  give  their 
own  children  into  the  hands  of  God,  and  let  him  do 
"with  them  as  he  would.  But  the  power  to  do  this  is 
the  gift  of  few.  The  greater  number  of  persons 
agonize  at  this  point ;  and  I  think  there  is  an  inti- 
mation that  the  Apostle  himself  could  not  get  above 
it.  I  should  like  to  know  how  it  was  that  for  three 
years  Paul  went  from  house  to  house  exhorting  men, 
and  weeping  and  crying  over  sinners,  if  he  had  come 
to  a  state  in  which  he  could  take  these  cases  and  lay 
them  at  the  feet  of  God,  and  feel  no  concern  about 
them. 

We  read  that  the  mother  of  Samuel  J.  Mills,  when 
he  left  the  house  to  go  to  college,  went  into  her  room 
to  consecrate  her  son  to  God,  and  did  not  leave  it 


TRUST   IN   GOD.  125 

until  she  felt  that  tlic  harden  had  rolled  off  from  her 
heart,  and  that  she  had  really  given  up  that  child  to  the 
Lord.  It  is  said  that  thenceforth  her  faith  never  failed 
her  ;  that  after  that  she  did  not  waver.  But  it  is  not 
every  woman  that  is  the  mother  of  a  Samuel  J.  Mills  ; 
for  he  had  a  moral  nature,  he  was  rooted  and  grounded 
in  spiritual  instruction,  his  tendencies  were  in  the  right 
direction,  and  the  event  justified  her  faith. 

On  the  other  hand,  I  hear  Paul,  when  looking  on 
the  Jews,  saying,  "  I  could  wish  that  myself  were 
accursed  from  Christ  for  my  brethren,  my  kinsmen 
according  to  the  flesh." 

I  hold,  therefore,  in  general  reply  to  your  question, 
that  it  is  given  sometimes  to  God's  people  to  rise  so 
high  above  the  visible  and  temporal  that  in  the  light 
of  God's  sovereignty  they  can  roll  off  every  burden, — 
even  that  of  their  children's  salvation  ;  but  it  is  not 
given  to  every  one  to  do  it.  I  know  there  are  some 
people  who  tell  us  that  they  have  come  to  this  ;  but  I 
never  met  a  man  whose  case  in  this  regard  satisfied 
me. 

Q.  But  suppose  I  was  praying  earnestly  for  the  soul  of  a  per- 
son not  of  my  own  family,  but  connected  with  me  socially,  then 
could  I  come  to  this  feeling  of  implicit  trust  in  God's  love  and 
goodness  and  wisdom  ? 

Yes  ;  that  is  a  very  different  thing. 

[The  questioner  related  the  circumstance  of  his 
having  prayed  a  year  or  two  for  the  conversion  of  a 
young  lady  in  whose  spiritual  welfare  he  was  much 
interested,  but  who,  though  she  appeared  to  have  a 
sincere  desire,  and  though  she  passed  through  two  or 
three  revivals  of  religion  during  that  period,  was  not 


126  LECTURE-EOOM   TALKS. 

converted  then,  her  conversion  havmg  been  delayed  to 
a  subsequent  time,  after  he  had  given  up  praying  for 
her,  and  after  she  had  become  settled  in  the  idea  that 
she  was  abandoned  of  the  Holy  Spirit.] 

Sometimes  men  fish  a  long  time  for  a  particular 
trout  in  a  particular  hole.  They  try  every  kind  of 
bait,  and  all  manner  of  invitations,  but  he  will  not 
touch  the  hook.  But  some  day  when  they  are  fish- 
ing down  stream,  and  are  not  thinking  anything  about 
this  trout,  they  get  a  bite,  and  haul  out  a  splendid 
fellow ;  and  lo,  it  is  he ! 

I  have  caught  fish  in  just  that  way.  I  remember 
preaching  during  a  period  of  great  anxiety  through 
four  weeks  for  one  man,  apparently  to  no  purpose. 
He  had  been  a  Hiclcory  Quaker,  as  it  was  said  in  the 
West,  —  and  he  had  been  seasoned  at  that !  If  any- 
body knows  what  hickory  wood  is,  he  can  understand 
how  tough  it  must  be  when  it  is  seasoned.  And  I 
recollect  that  when  the  revival  had  passed  by,  and  I 
had  ceased  to  think  of  this  man,  except  occasionally, 
one  Sunday,  after  I  had  preached  a  sermon  from  the 
text,  "  He  that  being  often  reproved  hardcneth  his 
neck  shall  suddenly  be  destroyed,  and  tliat  without 
remedy,"  which  I  meant  for  some  very  wicked  young 
men  who  had  resisted  the  truth,  and  were  sweeping 
away  many  others,  I  found  my  old  Quaker  all  broken 
to  pieces.  I  aimed  at  something  else,  and  hit  him  ! 
And  so  I  have  seen  this  same  thing  demonstrated  in 
many  otlier  ways. 

Hei-e  I  want  to  call  your  attention  to  a  very  im- 
portant distinction  between  what  may  called  the  fervor 
of  nervous  anxiety  and  the  fervor  of  the  moral  sen- 


TRUST   IN   GOD.  127 

timents.  They  are  very  different.  Persons  sometimes 
become  feverishly  anxious  for  those  about  whom  they 
are  concerned,  —  parents  for  their  children,  or  Chris- 
tians for  members  of  the  congregation  to  which  they 
belong.  Their  anxiety  takes  on  an  intense  or  nervous 
form  ;  and  it  becomes  unreasonable,  not  being  limited 
by  proper  bounds  of  judgment  or  faith.  It  works  mis- 
chief, generally,  on  the  subject  of  it,  and  often  on  the 
object  of  it ;  whereas  the  desire  of  the  moral  feelings 
is  almost  always  in  its  nature  calming.  Our  lower 
desires  are  usually  intense,  quickening ;  but  our  moral 
feelings  are  almost  always  broad,  deep,  and  quieting. 
And  I  have  observed  that  those  prayers  which  are 
the  most  availing,  and  which  come  from  the  deepest 
sources,  are  not  those  which  are  the  most  agitating, 
but  those  which  are  most  tranquillizing. 

Q.  Is  that  sense  of  the  uselessness  of  prayer  which  persons  often 
feel,  an  evil  that  admits  of  remedy  ?  and  if  so,  what  is  the  remedy  ? 

You  must  not  confound  supplication  or  petition  with 
prayer.  It  is  prayer ;  but  it  is  not  the  whole  of  prayer. 
Communion,  too,  is  prayer.  We  call  it  conversation 
between  ourselves,  but  between  God  and  us  we  call  it 
communion.  I  think  God  has  every  one  of  those 
traits  which  belong  to  our  relations  here  upon  earth. 
He  is  everything  that  we  conceive  any  variety  of  men 
to  be  to  us. 

You  go  to  a  judge  and  say,  "  "What  is  your  opinion 
in  respect  to  a  case  like  this  ?  "  He  is  off  the  bench, 
and  gives  you  his  opinion  as  a  private  individual. 
Then  you  say,  "  You  are  a  lawyer  ;  will  you  please 
give  me  a  legal  opinion  respecting  it  ?  "  and  he  gives 


128  LECTURE-ROOM  TALKS. 

you  a  legal  opinion.  Then  you  say,  "  As  judge,  will 
you  pronounce  a  sentence  in  the  matter?  "  He  says, 
"  As  judge,  I  cannot  talk  with  you  on  this  subject  at 
all."  Thus  there  are  three  characters  in  which  you 
can  approach  this  one  man. 

Now,  God  is  to  us  a  hundred  things.  He  is  the  Lawr 
giver ;  he  is  the  Governor  of  creation  ;  he  is  the  God 
of  providence  ;  he  is  the  Lord  of  grace  ;  he  is  Re- 
deemer ;  he  is  Father ;  he  is  Friend ;  he  is  Teacher 
and  Inspirer  ;  he  is  Advocate.  He  bears  every  con- 
ceivable relation  to  us. 

I  go  to  God,  and  say ;  "  I  am  very  poor,  I  am  very 
ignorant,  I  am  very  sinful,  I  am  utterly  unworthy  to 
speak  to  thee ;  but  let  me,  0  God,  speak  right  on  ; 
and  do  thou  sort  out  what  I  say,  and  put  it  in  its 
proper  relations.  Let  me  relieve  my  mind."  And  I 
speak  on ;  and  sometimes  it  is  petition,  sometimes  it 
is  revery,  sometimes  it  is  soliloquy,  and  sometimes  it  is 
like  a  child's  talking  backward  and  forward  to  a  father. 
And  I  do  not  give  myself  any  trouble  about  my  prayer. 
I  say,  "  God  hears  me,  and  he  sorts  what  I  say,  and 
gives  it  its  right  name."  I  never  think  of  husband- 
ing all  that  my  ground  raises  from  my  sowing.  I 
winnow  my  grain.  And  God  winnows  my  prayers, 
and  lets  the  chaff  fly,  and  saves  the  wheat. 

I  say,  therefore,  in  respect  to  praying.  Why  give 
yourself  any  trouble  about  whether  the  things  for 
which  you  pray  are  best  ?  If  it  comforts  you  to  pray 
about  them,  then  pray  about  them  ;  otherwise,  do  not. 
Put  yourself  under  the  direction  of  God's  spirit,  and 
follow  its  leadings.  And  as  respects  all  questions 
which  arc  to  turn  on  human  judgments,  my  own  habit 


TRUST  IN   GOD.  129 

is  to  pray  for  things  just  as  I  want  them  to  be,  and 
then  say,  "  Now,  if  there  is  anything  better,  please  do 
that."  I  make  up  a  case  the  best  way  I  can,  and  then 
say,  "  If  God  sees  anything  better,  let  him  please  to 
do  it." 

A  capitalist,  writing  a  letter  of  instruction  to  his 
agent  in  Marseilles,  says,  "I  have  a  million  dollars' 
worth  of  property  in  France,  and  the  state  of  the 
empire  is  such,  politically,  that  I  think  you  had  better 
dispose  of  it  so  and  so ;  but  you  are  on  the  ground, 
and  I  have  perfect  confidence  in  your  judgment,  and 
if  you  see  reasons  why  these  directions  should  not 
be  followed,  depart  from  them,  and  do  as  you  think 
best." 

And  if  men  can  give  such  discretionary  power  to 
their  subordinates,  how  much  more  should  we  feel 
safe  in  leaving  God  to  exercise  it  concerning  the 
things  about  which  we  pray  to  him  ! 

Q.  Do  you  think  it  would  be  extravagant  to  say  that  nine  tenths 
of  men's  prayers  are  answered  ? 

I  do,  unless  you  include  those  which  are  followed 
by  results  which  come  from  the  application  of  means 
to  ends,  and  which  are  of  our  own  procuring.  For 
instance,  there  was  on  my  father's  place  a  particular 
tree  that  bore  sweet  apples.  As  a  boy,  I  used  to  pray 
that  the  Lord  would  give  me  some  apples  from  that 
tree,  and  then  I  would  go  and  kick  against  the  tree ; 
and  my  prayers  were  almost  always  answered !  I 
never  noticed  that  they  were  if  I  did  not  shake  the 
tree.  And  so,  in  prayer,  a  man  makes  up  his  mind 
that  he  would  like  such  a  thing,  and  he  prays  for  it, 

6*  I 


130  LECTURE-ROOM   TALKS. 

and  then  begins  to  seek  it.  It  is  because  he  wants  it 
that  he  prays  for  it ;  and,  wanting  it,  he  sets  in  motion 
a  train  of  natural  causes  by  which  it  is  brought  with- 
in his  reach.  And  when  he  gets  the  blessing  thus 
through  his  own  exertions,  his  prayer  is  answered. 
If  you  mean  such  prayers,  I  believe  that  nine  out  of 
ten  are  answered.  But  where  persons  pray  for  things 
that  do  not  lie  within  the  sphere  of  any  instrumen- 
tality that  they  can  bring  to  bear,  for  things  that  lie 
beyond  the  reach  of  natural  causes  which  are  under 
our  control,  the  case  is  different.  If  I  pray  that  God 
would  prosper  me  this  year,  the  answering  of  that 
prayer  to  a  certain  extent  rests  with  me.  If  I  pray 
for  life  and  health,  though  there  is  a  divine  will  by 
which  these  things  may  be  granted  or  withheld,  yet 
the  analogies  are  that  a  man's  health  and  life  are 
much  in  his  own  hands.  If  I  pray  for  these  things, 
and  I  take  care  of  myself,  and  they  are  secured  to  me, 
the  realization  of  my  desire  does  not  seem  so  much 
an  answer  to  prayer  as  a  blessing  on  my  endeavors. 

But  suppose  the  case  is  one  such  as  once  came  to 
my  knowledge.  A  woman  said :  "  I  cannot  live  in  the 
thought  that  I  am  going  to  heaven,  and  that  my  hus- 
band is  going  to  hell.  He  will  not  let  me  talk  to  him. 
He  will  not  go  to  church.  He  seems  more  set  against 
religion  than  ever  before.  He  is  shut  out  of  the  use 
of  means,  and  I  can  only  pray  that  God  will  convert 
his  soul."  The  man  was  at  last  converted,  and  he 
told  me  how  it  happened.  Said  he  :  "  I  knew  that  my 
wife  was  praying  for  me,  and  I  was  as  mad  about  it 
as  I  could  be.  I  did  not  want  her  to  pray  for  me, 
and  I  was  cross  and  ugly ;  and  the  uglier  I  grew  the 


TRUST  IN   GOD.  131 

sweeter  she  acted.  I  could  not  provoke  her.  I  tried 
her,  and  was  determined  to  see  if  I  could  not  break 
her  down  by  tempting  and  tormenting  her ;  and 
though,  of  course,  she  was  not  perfect,  she  satisfied 
me  that  she  had  something  that  I  had  not.  As  quick 
as  I  came  to  that  conclusion,  I  began  to  feel  evil ;  and 
the  worse  I  felt,  the  worse  I  acted  ;  and  the  worse 
I  acted,  the  better  she  seemed  ;  and  at  last  I  had  to 
give  up ! " 

Well,  what  is  the  philosophy  of  this  case  ?  God 
began  to  answer  that  woman's  prayer  by  the  sanctifi- 
cation  of  her  disposition  ;  by  making  her,  through  faith 
and  trust,  and  the  holy  fervor  of  love,  so  patient  and 
so  kind  that  the  loveliness  of  Christ  began  to  show  it- 
self in  her.  God  was  preaching  to  that  man,  not  by 
tlie  pulpit,  —  he  would  not  go  to  church  ;  nor  by  the 
Bible,  —  he  would  not  read  that ;  —  but  by  Christ  in 
her,  the  hope  of  glory.  He  saw  that,  and  could  not 
get  away  from  it. 

You  will  notice  that  it  is  the  effectual  fervent  prayer 
of  a  righteous  man  that  availeth  much.  Many  seem 
to  think  it  is  the  fact  that  a  righteous  man  gives  the 
fervent  and  effectual  prayer  that  makes  the  prayer 
powerful.  Not  so.  It  is  the  fervency  and  effect 
of  righteousness  in  the  man  that  makes  the  power 
of  prayer. 

Q.  But  if  we  pray  for  persons  with  whom  we  have  no  commu- 
nication, whom  we  cannot  reach,  and  over  whom  we  have  no  in- 
fluence, will  not  God  hear  and  answer  our  prayer  ? 

Under  such  circumstances  there  is  sufficient  ground 
to  encourage  us  to  pray  ;  but  more  than  that  can 


132  LECTURE-ROOM   TALKS. 

hardly  be  said.  We  pray  for  the  conversion  of  the 
heathen ;  but  I  do  not  think  they  are  going  to  be 
converted  without  instrumentalities.  There  is  a  train 
of  causes  at  work  through  which  I  hope  they  will 
ultimately  be  converted  ;  but  I  should  have  little  faith 
in  prayers  for  their  conversion  whicli  were  unaccom- 
panied by  instrumentalities.  I  should  not  have  much 
faith,  I  think,  to  pray  that  the  grand  vizier  of  Turkey 
might  be  converted,  without  knowing  him,  and  with- 
out knowing  that  any  means  were  being  employed  by 
which  he  could  be  reached. 

Have  you  never  heard  of  persons  being  converted 
where  no  prayers,  apparently,  were  offered  for  them  ? 
Do  you  suppose  that  God's  grace  limits  itself  to  the 
prayers  that  are  addressed  to  him  ?  We  are  not  to 
forget  that  all  the  desire  of  God's  church  oii  earth  is 
not  a  thimbleful  compared  with  the  desire  that  already 
burns  in  the  heart  of  God,  which  is  vaster  than  the 
sun  in  the  heavens,  or  a  thousand  of  them.  If  there 
is  anything  that  turns  me  back  with  a  sense  of  ridicu- 
lousness, it  is  to  stand  pleading  and  praying  in  the 
vestibule  of  God's  soul.  The  thought  comes  over 
me,  sometimes,  "  Why  am  I  praying  for  this  thing  ? 
Compared  with  God,  I  am  not  as  much  as  a  dew-drop 
compared  with  the  ocean.  God  wants  it,  and  from  all 
eternity  he  has  been  working  for  it ;  and  yet,  I  sup- 
plicate him  as  though  he  had  never  thought  of  it !  " 
The  sense  of  God's  love,  and  of  his  provisions  of 
mercy,  often  comes  in  to  rebuke  the  impatience  of 
prayer.  I  do  not  doubt  God's  administration  in  this 
world.  I  do  not  know  what  part  my  prayer  is  going 
to  have  in  that  administration.     I  only  know  that  if 


TRUST   IN   GOD.  133 

it  has  the  part  that  it  merits,  it  will  not  have  any  at 
all.  Of  how  much  importance  God's  infinite  grace 
may  make  it,  he  knows,  and  I  do  not.  Blessed  be 
his  name,  he  will  treat  my  prayer  better  than  it  de- 
serves, —  I  know  that.  If  you  ask,  "  What  is  the  use 
of  praying  ?  "  I  answer, "  Woe  is  me  if  I  do  not  pray  !  " 
I  pray  on  the  principle  that  wine  knocks  the  cork  out 
of  a  bottle.  There  is  an  inward  fermentation,  and 
there  must  be  a  vent  somewhere.  I  pray  because  it 
is  easier  to  pray  than  not  to  pray.  It  is  the  soul  that 
prays  first :  the  tongue  wags  afterwards.  It  is  no 
small  privilege  that  we  have  of  talking  with  God,  and 
of  laying  our  troubles  upon  him  so  as  to  feel  relieved 
of  them. 


134  LECTURE-ROOM   TALKS. 


TRUE  WAY  OF  REPRESENTING  THE  CHRIS- 
TIAN LIFE. 


NEVER  like  to  hear  people  speak  of  a  re- 
ligious or  Christian  life  by  its  negatives, — by- 
its  limitations,  and  restraints,  and  necessary 
pains  and  self-denials.  For,  although  at 
times  there  are  struggles,  and  though  there  may  be 
a  proper  mention  of  them,  yet  no  man  can  consider 
what  are  the  elements  of  a  true  faith,  what  are  the 
promises  and  inspirations  of  God,  without  perceiving 
that  those  shadows  are  alternative,  occasional,  excep- 
tional states,  and  that  the  New  Testament  designs  the 
Christian  man  to  be  a  child  of  light  and  joy.  He  is 
set  free.  He  is  adopted  into  the  household  of  God.  He 
is  a  friend,  —  no  longer  a  servant.  He  is  an  heir  ex- 
pectant, but  is  not,  like  many  heirs,  waiting  until  the 
bequeathed  estate  comes  to  him ;  for  he  has  the  ear- 
nest of  it  sent  before,  as  it  were,  to  support  him  on  the 
road  to  it. 

Although  the  New  Testament  abundantly  recognizes 
an  element  of  suffering,  and  our  own  experience  cor- 
roborates it  in  the  amplest  manner,  yet  both  experi- 
ence and  the  New  Testament  recognize  privilege  and 
triumphant  joy. 

It  is  always  infelicitous  when  men  fall  into  the  habit 
of  speaking  of  religion  as  the  mother  of  trials,  and 
of  their  Christian  experience  from  the  side  of  its  re- 
strictions and  limitations.    It  is  a  misfortune  that  men 


THE   CHRISTIAN   LIFE.  135 

should  leave  the  impression  upon  the  minds  of  their 
associates,  that  their  religion  consists  chiefly  in  keeping 
away  from  things  that  are  rather  agreeable,  but  quite 
sinful ;  that  it  is  pretty  hard  to  do  it,  but  that  sooner 
than  be  lost  they  will ;  as  if  the  Christian  life  were 
to  be  represented  by  a  man  yoked  or  harnessed  to 
duty,  and  having  to  pull  some  heavy  burden  :  or  that 
it  is  a  bridling  of  unruly  passions  ;  as  if  it  were  to 
be  represented  by  the  figure  of  a  man  sitting  on  a 
bare-back  colt,  not  half  broken,  and  holding  it  in  with 
all  his  might  to  keep  it  from  running  away.  These 
representations  have  an  element  of  truth  in  them  ; 
and  I  can  conceive  that  for  special  purposes  they  might 
be  employed.  They  are  employed  in  Scripture  itself  in 
many  ways.  But,  after  all,  it  is  not  right  to  represent 
that  state  which  is  called  the  worsJdjJ  of  God  by  any 
such  darkened,  imperfect  symbols  as  those.  Since 
the  predominant  idea  of  the  New  Testament  is  that 
a  Christian  life  is  one  of  exaltation  approaching  to 
glorification,  that  ought  to  be  the  testimony,  as  it 
ought  to  be  the  experience,  of  Christians. 

Now  and  then,  in  the  providence  of  God,  a  man 
may  be  in  peculiar  social  exigencies,  where  trouble  is 
poured  out  to  him  from  a  full  cup ;  but  surely  the 
ordinary  experience  and  testimony  of  a  man  who  has 
reason  to  believe  that  his  sins  are  forgiven,  that  he  is  ac- 
cepted of  God,  that  he  is  guided  by  the  continual  pres- 
ence of  the  Divine  Spirit,  that  he  is  an  heir  of  heaven 
and  of  its  glory,  and  that  until  he  comes  into  possession 
of  that  he  is  under  the  supervision  of  the  All-seeing 
and  Almighty  God,  —  the  ordinary  experience  of  such 
a  man  ought  to  be  courageous,  helpful,  joyful. 


136  LECTURE-ROOM  TALKS. 

It  is  a  bad  thing  for  a  man  to  talk  too  much  about 
his  cares  to  anybody.  Cares  are  very  much  like  pim- 
ples. If  you  let  them  alone,  they  will  dry  up  and 
disappear ;  but  if  you  meddle  with  them,  they  are  apt 
to  fester  and  become  permanent.  It  is  a  bad  thing, 
not  only  to  talk  about  your  own  cares,  but  to  talk 
about  other  people's  cares  so  as  to  make  them  feel 
that  they  are  overborne.  It  is  a  bad  thing  for  the 
people  of  a  parish  to  talk  about  their  minister's  cares. 
I  am  thankful  that  it  is  a  habit  which  does  not  belong 
to  you  very  much.  I  love  to  hear  my  people  pray  for 
me  ;  but  I  always  have  a  shrinking  when  people  in 
their  prayers  speak  of  their  pastor's  "  weighty  cares 
and  responsibilities."  Because,  although  there  are 
certain  cares  and  certain  responsibilities  connected 
with  the  ministerial  office,  the  impression  conveyed 
is  that  the  minister  of  the  gospel  is  one  that  is  bur- 
dened ;  whereas  I  think  he  is  one  that  goes  trium- 
phant. I  think  he  is  the  foremost  son  of  joy,  and  that 
the  Christian  life  which  such  a  one  leads  is  a  life  to 
be  envied,  —  never  to  be  pitied;  never  to  be  spoken 
of  as  a  life  of  subjugation.  If  a  minister  has  dys- 
pepsia, of  course  the  people  of  his  parish  ought  to 
pray  that  he  may  get  well,  or  that  he  may  be  patient 
under  his  suffering ;  but  to  pray  for  a  minister,  or  any 
leading  Christian,  as  if  the  fact  of  his  being  in  an 
advanced,  prominent  position  rendered  him  an  object 
of  sympathy  and  compassion,  and  a  subject,  therefore, 
of  supplication,  is  to  misinterpret  the  whole  temper 
and  spirit  of  Christianity. 

Sometimes  men  fall  into  a  whining  and  complain- 
ing way  of  speaking  of  themselves,  and  talking  about 


THE   CHRISTIAN   LIFE.  137 

their  duties  and  burdens  and  cares.     I  am  sure  it  is 
unconscious  or  unreflecting. 

I  was  much  struck,  in  my  boyhood,  by  reading  in 
Payson's  Biography,  where  it  states  that  he  said,  as  he 
lay  upon  his  dying  bed,  "  If  men  only  knew  the  honor 
and  glory  that  awaited  them  in  Christ,  they  would  gO' 
about  the  streets  crying  out,  '  I  am  a  Christian  !  I  am 
a  Cliristian  I '  that  men  might  rejoice  with  them  in  the 
blessedness  of  which  they  were  soon  to  partake." 

Look  at  it  from  this  point  of  view.  Suppose  a 
woman  who  sorrows,  being  afflicted  with  bodily  in- 
firmities, or  placed  in  exigencies,  is  braced  up,  and 
goes  through  an  amount  of  exertion  which  would 
break  most  persons  down ;  and  suppose  she  is  cheer- 
ful where  most  persons  would  be  despondent.  Sup- 
pose she  is  kind  and  thoughtful  and  charitable  in  her 
judgment  where  other  people  would  be  sharp  and 
censorious.  Suppose  she  sympathizes  with  others 
instead  of  being  all  the  time  suffering  in  sympathy 
for  herself.  Suppose  she,  in  a  modest  and  gentle  way, 
makes  it  appear  that  this  in  her  is  simply  the  fruit  of 
faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  A  person,  no  matter 
how  much  prejudice  he  may  have  had  against  religion, 
being  under  the  influence  of  such  a  one  a  little  while, 
begins  unconsciously  to  feel  his  religious  nature  stirred, 
and  to  have  a  veneration  for  religion,  and  to  wish  that 
he  might  have  a  religion  that  would  do  for  him  what 
hers  does  for  her.  Suppose  a  woman  under  bereave- 
ment rises  up  into  a  state  of  exaltation,  and  remains 
in  that  state.  The  heart  of  everybody  who  knows  her 
is  touched  to  see  that  with  her  great  grief  comes  also 
great  comfort  and  support,  exhibiting  the  positive  and 


138  LECTURE-ROOM  TALKS. 

affirmative  -and  sweet  side.  And  how  powerful  her 
testimony  becomes  ! 

When  people  want  to  make  things  attractive  in 
farming,  they  give  exliibitions  of  their  products.  The 
women  bring  their  very  best  butter,  moulded  into 
tempting  golden  lumps  ;  and  the  men  bring  the  no- 
blest beets  and  squashes  and  vegetables  of  every  kind  ; 
and  from  the  orchards  they  bring  the  rarest  fruits  ; 
and  when  you  go  into  the  room  where  all  these  things 
are  displayed,  they  seem  to  you  attractive  and  beauti- 
ful. 

It  seems  to  me  that  is  the  way  a  Christian  church 
ought  to  represent  the  Christian  life.  You  ought  to 
pile  up  your  apples  and  pears  and  peaches  and  flowers 
and  vegetables,  to  show  what  is  the  positive  fruit  of 
religion.  But  many  people  in  Christian  life  do  as 
farmers  would  do  who  should  go  to  a  show,  and  carry 
—  one,  pigweed ;  another,  thistles  ;  anotlier,  dock  ; 
and  anotlier,  old  hard  lumps  of  clay,  —  and  should 
arrange  these  worthless  things  along  the  sides  of  the 
room,  and  mourn  over  them.  What  sort  of  husbandry 
would  that  be  ?  Christians  are  too  apt  to  represent 
the  dark  side  of  religion  in  their  conversation  and 
meetings. 

Christ  prayed  for  his  disciples,  that  they  might  bring 
forth  fruit.  He  declared  to  them  that  in  the  divine 
administration,  God,  as  vintner,  sought  to  make  the 
vine  bring  forth  more  and  more  fruit.  Bearing  fruit, 
sweet,  luscious,  and  blessed,  is  the  business  of  the 
Christian  life. 


THE   UNIVERSAL   BROTHERHOOD   OF   CHRISTIANS.     139 


THE  UNIVERSAL  BROTHERHOOD  OF  CHRIS- 
TIANS. 


HERE  are  inflections  of  feeling  that  belong 
to  groups  or  to  particular  classes  of  persons. 
We  have  feelings  toward  single  individuals 
which  are  not  divided  with  any  others. 
There  are  states  of  feeling  that  belong  to  single  fami- 
lies which  we  scarcely  expect  to  spread  over  the  neigh- 
borhood. It  is  supposed  that  the  more  individual 
and  personal  our  feelings  are,  the  deeper  and  stronger 
they  will  be. 

Thus,  it  is  customary  for  people  to  say  that  a  feeling 
of  piety  or  compassion  toward  some  single  individual 
whose  case  we  know,  is  much  more  potent  than  the 
general  feeling  of  benevolence  which  respects  the 
whole  world  ;  and  it  is  true. 

It  is  true  of  almost  all  our  feelings,  that  they  are 
strong  and  intense  in  proportion  to  their  specialty  ; 
but  we  must  not  suppose  that  this  is  the  fact  in  respect 
to  all  the  experiences  of  men.  Some  of  the  strongest 
feelings  are  the  most  general.  I  will  instance  the 
feeling  of  sympathy  and  affection  which  we  have  for 
men  because  they  are  Christ's.  If  a  person  is  truly 
a  Christian,  and  loves  Christian  inflections  of  disposi- 
tion, striving  for  them  in  himself  and  delighting  in 
them  in  other  persons,  it  is  impossible  that  ho  should 
see  a  Christian-minded  person  anywhere  and  not  be 
conscious  of  instant  drawing  toward  him  by  an  attach^ 


140  LECTURE-EOOM   TALKS. 

meiit  that  is  strong  in  the  proportion  in  which  the 
Christian  graces  develop  themselves  in  the  person  seen. 
And  the  very  name  of  "  Christian  "  carries  with  it  a 
presumption  of  these  things.  Therefore,  go  where  we 
will,  if  any  person  whom  we  meet,  or  who  is  pointed 
out  to  us,  is  said  to  be  a  Christian,  we  feel  at  once  a 
nearness  to  him ;  we  feel  a  claim  upon  him.  But  if  he 
is  not  so  called,  and  if  in  travelling  with  him  we  sec  that 
he  is  acting  on  Christian  principles,  and  distinguish- 
ing himself  by  them  from  the  world  around  him,  all  the 
more  we  are  drawn  toward  him  by  what  he  exhibits 
himself  to  be.  And  the  strength  of  this  is  such  that 
not  infrequently  Christian  dispositions,  in  persons 
meeting  casually,  bring  them  together  in  friendships 
that  last  as  long  as  their  whole  life,  and  are  even 
stronger  than  the  ordinary  friendships  that  grow  up  in 
society  and  in  common  fellowship.  So  it  comes  to 
pass  that  one  may  travel  all  over  the  world  and  never 
be  out  of  reach  of  his  relations.  If  you  go  among  the 
islands  of  the  sea,  there  are  Christians  there  ;  and  they 
are  your  brethren.  If  you  go  to  every  part  of  our  own 
land,  there  are  Christians  there  ;  and  they  are  your 
brethren.  If  you  go  under  other  skies,  there  arc 
Christians  there  ;  and  they  are  your  brethren.  You 
will  find  Christians  on  every  continent.  Yea,  if  you 
go  into  other  religions  than  your  own,  you  will  find 
Christians  there.  If  you  go  from  the  Protestant  family 
into  the  Catholic  Church,  you  will  find  Christians  there. 
Wherever  you  see  individuals  whom  Christ  has  loved, 
and  that  are  accepted  of  him,  instantly  you  feel  a 
brotherhood  toward  them. 

And  the  moment  that  feeling  comes  to  any  one,  how 


THE   UNIVERSAL   BROTHERHOOD   OF    CHRISTIANS.     141 

from  the  presence  of  it  all  selfish  feelings  and  all 
worldly  resistances  die  away  !  There  is  in  the  con- 
sciousness of  union  with  Christ  an  established  fellow- 
ship one  with  another  ;  and  there  is  in  it  an  element 
that  dissolves  prejudices  and  takes  away  those  repel- 
lences  that  separate  men. 

If  those  who  are  Christians  could  thus  be  brought 
together,  and  made  to  know  each  other,  the  best  results 
would  follow.  If  disputants  in  theology,  who  head 
the  different  sects  and  denominations,  and  who  come 
to  conceive  violent  aversions  toward  each  other,  could, 
without  knowing  it,  meet  in  the  prayer-meeting  or 
conference-room,  and  see  each  other,  and  behold  each 
other's  zeal  in  common  labor,  long  before  they  were 
aware  of  it  how  fast  they  would  be  clasped  in  a  bond 
of  ever-growing  love  !  If  persons  with  national  repul- 
sions could  be  brought  together  so  tliat  the  Christian 
sides  of  their  character  would  come  in  contact,  how 
much  stronger  than  national  repulsions  would  prove 
the  Christian  principle  ! 

Men  that  love  Christ  cannot  be  far  from  me.  If  a 
man  loves  prayer,  and  loves  Christ,  and  loves  the 
church,  he  and  I  must  have  a  language  that  will  make 
us  brothers.  It  is  a  blessed  thing  to  feel  that  you 
have,  through  the  Lord  Jesus  Clu-ist,  kindred  the 
world  over,  and  that  there  is  a  principle  of  love  and 
faith  that  is  stronger  even  than  blood-love  and  family 
connection. 


142  LECTURE-ROOM   TALKS. 


METHODS    OF    CONVERSION. 

Q.  Will  you  please  make  some  remarks  appropriate  to  tte  case 
of  persons  (some  of  whom  are  in  this  room)  who  expect  that  God 
■will  convert  them  under  some  powerful,  stirring  influence  ? 

jELL,  I  suppose  men  come  into  the  king- 
dom of  God  in  as  many  different  ways  as 
plants  come  to  flower.  Some  come  right 
up  out  of  the  earth  to  hlossom.  Some  come 
up  and  grow  the  whole  summer,  and  then  blossom. 
Some  grow  a  year,  and  then  blossom  the  second 
year.  Some  grow  up  like  trees,  and  do  not  blossom 
till  they  are  three  or  four  or  five  or  six  years  old. 
Some  put  the  leaves  out  first,  and  the  blossoms  after- 
ward ;  and  -some  put  out  the  blossoms  first,  and  the 
leaves  afterward.  There  is  every  conceivable  method 
of  inflorescence. 

Now,  when  a  man  is  converted,  he  blossoms  ;  and 
some  persons  blossom  almost  from  the  cradle.  I  do 
not  doubt  that  God's  work  begins  in  the  hearts  of  chil- 
dren three  or  four  years  old,  and  of  persons  of  every 
age  beyond  that  period.  As  "  the  wind  bloweth  where 
it  listeth,"  so  God's  spirit  works  where  it  pleases.  It 
comes  when  it  pleases,  and  as  it  pleases  ;  and  no  man 
can  tell  beforehand  how  it  will  come,  or  when  it  will 
come.  Tlie  way  in  which  the  mind  is  affected  when 
it  blossoms  into  the  kingdom  of  love  and  duty  varies 
in   almost   all    cases.      Some  men   have  a  foregoing 


METHODS   OF   CONVERSION.  143 

experience  that  lias  impressed  itself  upon  their  ima- 
gination and  memory  all  their  life  long,  and  it  is 
perfectly  natural  that  they  should  expect  other  people 
to  have  very  much  the  same  experience. 

An  uncle  of  mine  had  a  strong  impression  that 
everybody  who  was  converted  must  have  read  a  tract. 
His  first  question  to  young  Christians  was  to  find  out 
whether  any  awakening  tract  had  fallen  into  their 
hands  ;  and  he  was  quite  uneasy  if  they  had  not  read 
a  tract  to  which  he  could  trace  their  conversion. 
A  brother  *  in  this  church,  now  deceased,  of  blessed 
memory  in  our  midst,  —  a  man  of  strong,  intense 
feelings,  and  of  earnest,  vehement  emotion, — had,  in 
his  early  religious  experience,  some  hereditary  will. 
To  strive  against  it  took  considerable  grace,  and  more 
to  break  it  down.  Tiiere  was  a  severe  quarrel  in  his 
mind  before  his  will  gave  up.  It  was  more  severe, 
perhaps,  than  it  would  have  been  if  he  had  had  the 
saving  grace  of  God  presented  to  him  earlier.  He 
had  a  terrible  struggle.  And  in  the  coming  on  of 
religious  awakenings,  he  used  to  wax  warm,  and  yearn, 
and  talk,  and  relate  his  own  experience,  and  tell  what 
his  impressions  were,  and  how,  although  he  found  that 
there  was  not  one  single  way  merely  of  entering  the 
kingdom  of  God,  and  that  men  might  be  converted 
under  a  great  variety  of  experiences,  he  took  more 
satisfaction  in  persons  that  were  converted  as  he  had 
been  than  in  others.  He  thought  there  was  great 
thoroughness  in  a  conversion  where,  as  in  his  own  case, 
a  man  had  a  quarrel  with  his  Maker,  and  was  beaten, 
broken  down,  and  fairly  subdued. 

*  Mr.  Edward  Corning. 


144:  LECTURE-ROOM  TALKS. 

But  I  have  seen  Christians  who  said,  to  the  end  of 
their  life,  that  they  had  never  gone  through  a  great 
conflict  of  that  kind.  They  had,  little  by  little,  im- 
pressed upon  them  the  conviction  that  they  were  liv- 
ing an  unprofitable  life,  not  worthy  of  themselves  or 
of  God.  No  sudden  change  had  ever  come  over  them. 
They  gradually  came  to  experience  the  indwelling  of 
the  Divine  Spirit.  They  could  not  tell  exactly  when 
it  was  that  they  found  themselves  in  the  kingdom. 
They  were  timid,  they  hesitated,  they  feared,  but,  on 
the  whole,  the  impression  grew  in  their  mind  that 
they  were  Christ's,  and  at  length  they  began  to  call 
themselves  Christians. 

r  God  is  sovereign ;  and  he  calls  men  as  he  pleases. 
|!  Some  he  calls  amid  thunder  and  storm, ^  some  in  a 
Vcalm,  some  in  winter,  and  some  in  summer.  Some 
lie  calls  as  he  calls  flowers  in  spring,  and  some  as  he 
calls  flowers  in  autumn.  And  our  business  is  not  so 
much  to  determine  what  is  the  way  in  which  God  must 
call  us,  nor  the  way  in  which  we  should  like  to  come, 
as  to  get  up  and  come  to  our  Father,  walking  in  what- 
ever path  our  feet  find.  Co?7ie,  —  that  is  the  thing, — 
with  a  deep  experience,  if  you  have  it ;  without  a 
deep  experience,  if  you  have  it  not;  with  a  great 
tumult,  if  you  cannot  help  it  ;  without  much  tumult, 
if  it  please  God  that  it  should  be  so.  It  is  not  to  come 
in  any  particular  way,  or  with  any  particular  experi- 
ence, but  to  arise  and  come  to  our  Father,  and  say 
unto  him :  "  Father,  I  have  sinned  against  heaven  and 
before  thee,  and  am  no  more  worthy  to  be  called  thy 
son  ;  make  me  as  one  of  thy  hired  servants."  It  is  to 
come  back  to  God,  at  any  rate. 


METHODS   OF   CONVERSION.  145 

Q.  Why  IS  it  so  diflicult,  in  talking  ■with  people,  to  lead  them  to 
throw  aside  their  doubts  and  accept  Christ  as  their  Saviour  ? 

That  is  more  difficult  at  some  times  than  at  others. 
I  suppose  on  some  days  you  have  such  a  feeling  that 
you  can  almost  lift  a  soul  on  board,  and  carry  it  into 
harbor  ;  while  on  other  days  you  seem  powerless,  and 
cannot  render  any  assistance  to  the  souls  that  are 
perishing  around  you.  Our  efficiency  depends  very 
much  upon  the  state  of  our  own  soul.  A  man  whose 
Christ  is  near  and  dear  to  him,  and  who  has  a  glowing 
experience,  and  pours  it  out  into  the  souls  of  others, 
will  help  them  faster  and  farther  than  almost  any  one 
else.  The  most  fruitful  days  that  I  have  had  have 
been  those  in  which  I  had  something  to  tell  the  in- 
quirer about  Christ  that  I  myself  had  felt.  I  have 
had  the  best  success  when  I  had  a  heart  filled  with 
love  and  zeal  and  enthusiasm,  which,  flowing  out  in 
tides,  would  catch  the  hearts  of  those  with  whom  I 
was  laboring,  and  carry  them  along.  And  I  have  seen 
many  persons  converted. 

Have  you  never,  after  a  cloud  has  long  cast  its  dark 
shadow  on  a  field,  seen  the  shadow  slowly  move  away, 
and  leave  the  field  exposed  to  the  full  light  of  the  sun  ? 
I  have  seen  the  shadow  move  off  from  the  souls  of 
persons  in  the  same  way,  and  leave  them  exposed  to 
the  light  of  the  Sun  of  Righteousness. 

I  have  noticed  that  the  Divine  economy  in  religion 
is  as  much  governed  by  natural  laws  as  the  economy 
of  God  in  nature.  As  a  crop  answers  to  the  cultiva- 
tion given  to  it,  so  birth  into  the  kingdom  of  God 
answers  to  the  cultivation  that  precedes  it.  If  you 
go  into  an  Episcopal  Church,  where  they  believe  more 

7  J 


146  LECTURE-ROOM   TALKS. 

in  the  institutions  of  religion  than  wc  have  been 
taught  to,  where  tliey  preach  Christ  and  him  crucified, 
but  are  not  accustomed  to  revivals,  yovi  will  find  that 
persons  will  become  serious,  will  appear  restless,  and 
will  at  last  seem  to  dawn  into  a  Christian  hope  and 
life.  The  method  of  their  conversion  will  follow  the 
line  of  their  education. 

If  you  go  into  a  Methodist  Church,  you  will  find 
that  the  brethren  employ  the  emotions  more.  They 
preach  and  pray  and  exhort  with  all  their  power  till 
the  whole  room  glows,  and  everybody  is  expected  to 
be  fired  up  with  religious  zeal.  And  there  the  con- 
versions, like  the  instructions,  will  be  characterized 
by  intensity  and  enthusiasm. 

If  you  go  into  a  Presbyterian  or  Congregational 
Church,  where  a  strong  doctrinal  element  prevails  ; 
where  men  have  been  brought  up  on  the  old  New 
England  plan,  and  preached  to,  and  catechised  till  all 
religion  assumes  an  intellectual  form,  with  definite 
statements,  exact  definitions,  philosophical  ideas,  you 
will  find  a  regular  sequence  in  the  process  of  conver- 
sion. I  recollect  hearing  Dr.  Nettleton  and  my  father 
talk  of  the  method  of  bringing  people  into  a  regen- 
erated condition.  They  said  that  first  you  must  get 
the  individual  into  a  state  of  "  attention."  The  state 
next  to  attention  was  "  interest."  That  next  to  inter- 
est was  "  conviction."  That  next  to  conviction  was 
a  "  deep,  rebellious  condition."  And  next  to  that 
was  "  conversion."  These  were  the  different  stages 
that  they  deemed  it  necessary  for  the  sinner  to  go 
through  in  order  to  become  a  Christian.  And  I 
recollect  the  treatment  that  men  received  when  they 


METHODS   OF   CONVERSION.  147 

came  to  talk  with  father  about  religion.  He  used 
to  put  them  through  a  regular  course.  And  the 
result  answered  pretty  nearly  to  the  education  re- 
ceived. 

Now,  take  another  kind  of  preaching.  I  have  been 
a  pastor  for  a  great  many  years.  At  the  first  church 
I  had  under  my  charge,  in  Lawrenceburg,  we  had 
no  revival ;  but  in  Indianapolis,  during  the  eight 
years  that  I  was  there,  at  the  church  of  which  I  had 
the  care,  we  had  four  or  five  revivals.  I  have  never 
held  up  in  my  instruction  the  Law,  as  it  is  called,  so 
much  as  I  have  attempted  to  hold  up  the  Love  of  God 
in  Jesus  Christ,  and  to  win  men  to  the  Saviour  by  the 
presentation,  first,  of  duty,  and  second,  of  his  loveli-. 
ness.  And  I  have  kept  down  fear.  I  have  not  avoided 
it ;  but  generally  my  preaching  has  not  been  such  as 
to  excite  fear  so  much  as  hope  and  trust.  And  the 
conversions  that  have  taken  place  under  my  ministry 
have,  I  think,  been  as  valid  as  those  under  any  other 
ministry.  They  have,  as  a  general  thing,  proved 
sound,  and  made  godly  men  and  women.  They  have 
come  in  on  the  side  of  love,  trust,  and  hope,  rather 
than  of  conscience  and  fear ;  and  thus  they  have 
answered  to  the  preaching  under  which  they  have 
been  wrought ;  and,  as  a  common  rule,  the  sort  of 
preaching  which  is  presented  to  the  mind  will  deter- 
mine the  character  of  the  conversions  that  take  place 
under  it. 

Now,  the  question  arises.  Is  there  nothing  common 
to  all  in  conversion  ?  Yes  ;  but  the  same  substantial 
experience  takes  different  forms  in  the  cases  of  differ- 
ent persons. 


143  LECTURE-ROOBI   TALKS. 

Q.  Can  a  person  be  converted  without  feeling  himself  to  be  a 
sinner  before  God,  and  without  feeling  that  an  application  of  the 
love  of  God  to  the  soul  is  needful  to  his  salvation  ? 

I  do  not  believe  any  person  can  be  converted  un- 
less he  is  brought  to  such  a  state  that  he  feels  the 
need  of  a  change ;  but  I  have  no  doubt  that  it  is  pos- 
sible for  a  person  to  be  converted  without  having  had 
a  doctrinal  view  of  his  sinfulness.  I  know  that  many 
persons  are  converted  without  feeling  the  need  of  the 
blood  of  atonement.  Thousands  of  men  feel  the  need 
of  Christ,  who  do  not  feel  the  need  of  blood.  I  do 
not  feel  the  need  of  it.  I  recognize  and  revere  that 
language ;  but  when  you  come  to  scrutinize  it  and 
analyze  it,  is  there  any  blood  of  atonement  now  ?  Is 
there  any  real  act  of  applying  blood  to  the  soul,  in 
any  such  sense  as  that  in  which  we  apply  medicine  to 
the  body  ?  What  do  you  mean  by  hlood  of  atonement? 
You  mean  Divine  forgiving,  Divine  healing.  And  if 
you  understand  it,  there  is  not  the  least  harm  in  your 
employing  this  sacrificial  language,  which  meant  to 
the  Jews  what  it  cannot  mean  to  us.  They  had  sac- 
rifices of  lambs  and  other  animals,  and  hlood  of  atone- 
ment to  them  meant  what  it  cannot  mean  to  us  who 
have  not  been  brought  up  as  Jews.  To  us  it  means 
the  Divine  regeneration  of  the  soul.  In  conversion, 
everybody  comes  to  a  state  in  which  he  feels  that  he 
needs  God's  forgiveness,  to  a  greater  or  less  degree. 
Everybody  that  is  converted  feels  that  he  is  a  sinner, 
that  he  has  offended  against  God  or  God's  law,  and 
that  he  needs  pardon  and  spiritual  regeneration. 
Some  believe  in  this  transformation  by  the  power 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  under  one  form  of  doctrine,  and 


METHODS   OF   CONVERSION.  149 

some  under  another;  but  the  essential  facts  that  man 
is  dead  in  trespasses  and  sins,  that  he  is  born  to  world- 
liness,  that  he  must  be  changed,  and  that  he  must 
render  obedience  to  the  law  of  love,  I  suppose  nobody 
doubts. 

Some  men  wait  to  be  convicted  of  sin.  It  is  like 
collecting  water  to  turn  a  wheel.  One  dam  is  made 
here,  and  another  there,  and  another  further  up  the 
stream ;  and  when  there  are  heads  enough,  and  falls 
enough,  the  water  is  let  on,  and  the  wheel  begins  to 
turn,  and  the  mill  begins  to  go.  And  a  man  may  lie 
back  and  let  the  truth  press  upon  him,  and  press  upon 
him,  until  at  last  there  is  developed  an  intensity  of 
feeling  that  will  produce  conviction. 

But  let  me  illustrate  my  way  of  convicting  persons 
of  sin.  How  would  I  attempt  to  convict  a  person  of 
ignorance  ?  If  a  little  sprig  of  a  fellow  comes  where 
I  am,  thinking  that  he  knows  everything,  and  that  ho 
is  going  to  teach  me  everything,  it  is  not  necessary  for 
me  to  say  to  him,  "  You  are  a  popinjay,  sir ;  you  are 
a  conceited  fool ! "  ^  One  of  the  best  ways  to  deal  with 
him  is  to  assume  that  he  knows  everything.  I  intro- 
duce one  subject,  and  assume  that  he  is  familiar  with 
it,  and  question  him  iipon  it  till  he  begins  to  swallow, 
and  to  say  to  himself,  "  I  do  not  know  quite  as  much 
as  I  thought  I  did."  I  at  once  pass  from  that  to  an- 
other subject,  and  assume  that  he  knows  something 
on  that,  and  push  him  along  till  he  begins  to  boggle, 
and  feel  that  he  is  not  half  so  wise  as  he  thought  he 
was.  And  by  the  time  I  have  swamped  him  on  half 
a  dozen  subjects,  he  will  be  quite  crestfallen,  and  have 
some  idea  of  his  ignorance. 


150  LECTURE-ROOM   TALKS. 

And  if  a  man  comes  to  me  and  says,  "  I  cannot  see 
that  I  am  a  sinner,"  I  say,  "  Tlien  you  do  not  need 
any  cliange  nor  repentance.  But  you  ought  to  act 
like  a  Christian,  if  you  cannot  see  that  you  are  a  sin- 
ner. Do  you  pray  ? "  "  "Well,  I  —  yes."  "  Do  you 
enjoy  prayer  ?  "  "I  cannot  say  that  I  do."  "  But 
why  not  ? "  "  Well,  my  thoughts  wander,  and  I  do 
not  seem  to  be  speaking  to  anybody,  and  nobody  seems 
to  hear  me."  "  Ha !  you  do  not  think  that  you  are 
sinful ;  but  the  moment  you  attempt  to  speak  to  God 
he  is  notliing  to  you,  and  you  are  nothing  to  him. 
You  are  from  him  ;  and  your  breath  is  from  him  ;  the 
bounties  that  every  day  shower  upon  you  are  from 
him ;  and  yet,  according  to  your  own  admission,  noth- 
ing is  so  foreign  to  your  nature  as  communion  with 
him  ;  and  when  you  address  a  few  words  to  him, 
your  thoughts  are  roving  from  one  end  of  the  earth 
to  the  other  !  "  "  And  how  is  it,"  I  say,  "  in  re- 
spect to  Christ,  his  sacrifice,  his  resurrection,  and  his 
ascension?  What  are  your  feelings  towards  him?" 
"Well,  I  want  to  love  the  Saviour."  "Do  you  love 
the  Saviour  ? "  "I  cannot  say  that  I  do."  "  You 
profess  to  have  no  sense  of  sinfulness,  and  yet  you 
admit  that  you  have  no  love  toward  the  Saviour,  who 
died  for  you,  and  who,  having  ascended  to  heaven, 
there  intercedes  in  your  behalf!"  But  I  say  still 
farther,  "  Take  the  idea  of  a  Christian  life  as  the  rule 
of  your  conduct,  and  attempt  to  govern  yourself  by 
the  law  of  gentleness,  meekness,  and  love  for  one 
day."  The  moment  he  does  this  he  finds  himself  in 
difficulty ;  and  at  the  end  of  the  day  he  comes  back 
and  says,  "  0,  I  broke  it  here,  and  I  broke  it  there. 


METHODS   OF   CONVERSION.  151 

I  found  myself  unequal  to  the  task."  I  do  not  care 
which  one  of  the  fundamental  precepts  of  Christ  a 
man  undertakes  to  follow,  he  needs  undertake  to  fol- 
low it  but  one  day  to  have  revealed  to  him  the  bar- 
renness of  his  spiritual  life  and  the  sinfulness  of  his 
nature. 

Talk  French,  if  you  want  to  know  how  little  you 
know  about  the  Fi'ciich  language.  I  was  convicted 
when  I  went  to  Paris.  I  had  learned  French.  I 
could  read  newspapers  in  the  French  language  almost 
as  easily  as  in  my  own,  and  I  thought  I  understood 
French  very  well ;  but  when  I  went  to  Paris,  and  heard 
it  talked,  it  seemed  like  jargon,  they  talked  so  fast, 
and  ran  the  words  into  each  other  so.  I  went  into 
tlie  shops,  and  undertook  to  talk  French,  and  the  shop- 
keepers could  not  understand  me  any  better  than  I 
could  them.  I  came  near  starving  to  death  because 
I  could  not  ask  for  what  I  wanted  !  I  could  take  up 
French  books  and  newspapers  and  read  what  was  in 
them,  but  I  came  to  understand  very  soon  that  I  did 
not  know  very  much  about  French. 

Many  and  many  a  man  reads  the  Bible,  and  reads 
it  well ;  but  let  him  undertake  to  talk  in  the  language 
of  Zion,  and  see  whether  he  does  not  stagger.  Noth- 
ing staggers  a  man  so  quickly  as  trying  to  live  a 
Christian  life.  And  nothing  will  convict  a  man  of 
his  sinfulness  sooner  than  the  attempt  to  practise  the 
teachings  of  Christ.  But  many  persons  seem  to  think 
that  there  is  to  be  a  projected  conversion,  a  spiritual 
phantasmagoria,  if  I  may  say  so.  They  seem  to  ex- 
pect that  there  is  to  be  brought  before  them,  by  the 
power  of  God's  spirit,  something  equivalent  to  Calvary, 


152  LECTURE-ROOM   TALKS. 

with  its  three  crosses,  and  the  Saviour  hanging  on  the 
sacred  middle  one.  They  seem  to  be  looking  for  some 
mysterious  disclosure  which  shall  answer  to  the  very 
crucifixion  of  Christ.  And  they  are  waiting,  and 
waiting,  and  waiting  to  behold  the  wondrous  spec- 
tacle ;  whereas  they  should  at  once  endeavor  to  obey 
God's  law.  The  first  step  in  that  direction  will  show 
you  how  far  you  are  from  obedience.  Try  to  love, 
try  to  pray,  try  to  practise  the  Christian  virtues,  and 
do  it  from  hour  to  hour,  and  you  will  not  be  long  in 
finding  out  how  selfish  you  are,  how  proud  you  are, 
how  unsympathetic  you  are  in  spiritual  things,  how 
closely  allied  you  are  to  worldly  things. 

Q.  Will  you  have  the  kindness  to  say  a  few  words  to  those  that 
are  putting  off  the  duty  of  accepting  Christ  to-day,  in  the  hope 
that  to-morrow  they  may  see  something  or  hear  something  that 
shall  make  their  way  more  clear  ? 

When  Christ  was  on  earth,  a  great  many  persons 
that  came  to  him  were  going  to  be  his  disciples  after 
a  preparation.  One  says:  "I  will  follow  Thee,  but 
suffer  me  first  —  "  "  Stop  !  "  says  the  Saviour ;  "  I  do 
not  want  you  unless  you  will  follow  me  at  once." 
These  suffer-me-first  folk  are  not  the  ones  to  follow 
Christ.  If  you  have  any  secular  preparation  to  make, 
you  are  not  the  one  to  follow  Christ.  When  he  was 
on  earth,  and  people  came  to  him,  what  he  demanded 
of  them  was  this:  "Follow  me  now."  And  that  is 
what  he  demands  of  every  person  to-day.  If  any  say, 
"  Lord,  we  do  not  understand  the  doctrine  yet,"  he 
says,  "  Then  follow  me  for  that  reason,  and  I  will 
teach  you."  "  Lord,  we  do  not  feel  that  our  hearts 
are  sufficiently  subdued."     "  Follow  me,  and  they  will 


METHODS   OF   CONVERSION.  153 

become  subdued."  "  But,  Lord,  we  do  not  know  as 
we  shall  hold  out."  "  You  certainly  will  not  if  you 
do  not  begin.  The  best  way  is  to  follow  me  just  as 
you  are."  You  must  either  follow  Christ  or  go  away 
from  him.  You  must  either  accept  him  or  renounce 
him.  And  if  there  is  anybody  to-night  that  is  con- 
scious of  being  sinful,  that  has  a  burdened  conscience, 
that  has  a  heavy  heart,  and  that  needs  consolation  and 
salvation,  I  beseech  you  to  follow  Christ  unhesitatingly, 
unquestioningly  ;  and  he  will  reveal,  hour  by  hour  and 
day  by  day,  what  your  duty  is,  and  all  that  is  needful 
for  you  to  know. 


154  LECTURE-ROOM   TALKS. 


CHRISTIAN    JOYFULNESS. 

RECOLLECT,  when  I  was  young,  hearing 
a  great  many  exhortations  to  men  wlio  were 
not  Christians,  on  tlie  ground  that  if  they 
became  such  they  would  be  exceedingly 
happy ;  and  I  remember  distinctly  my  impression, 
that  a  Christian  was  always  happy ;  that  only  Chris- 
tians were  happy ;  and  that  if  I  became  a  Christian  I 
should  know  it,  just  as  I  know  when  I  go  out  of 
darkness  into  light,  or  out  of  shadow  into  sunshine.  I 
thought  there  would  be  a  palpable  and  distinct  change 
of  sensation,  and  that,  so  long  as  I  remained  faithful 
as  a  Christian,  I  should  experience  uninterrupted  and 
transcendent  joy. 

Far  be  it  from  me  to  dissuade  you  from  Christian 
joy ;  and  far  be  it  from  you  to  attempt  to  live  a  Chris- 
tian life  for  the  sake  of  being  joyful. 

It  is  true  that  the  word  of  God  declares  joy  to  be 
one  of  the  fruits  of  the  Spirit.  Peace  and  joy  in  the 
Holy  Ghost  are  a  part  of  the  kingdom  of  God  in  us. 
And  yet,  I  think  that  if  any  man,  in  any  part  of  his 
Christian  life,  sets  out  to  find  joy,  it  will  be  fictitious. 
It  will  be  some  form  of  excitement,  or  something 
other  than  joy.  It  certainly  will  not  be  that  joy 
which  the  word  of  God  contemplates,  and  which  is 
unconscious ;  which  comes,  as  it  were,  unawares ; 
which  comes,  not  in  the  form  of  exhilaration  and 
ecstasy,  but  in  those  milder  forms  which  constitute 
satisfaction,  rather  than  intense  pleasure. 


CHRISTIAN  JOYFULNESS.  155 

"What,  then,  are  the  great  ends  which  a  man  is  to 
seek  ?  If  he  becomes  a  Christian  merely  that  in  an- 
other way  he  may  derive  that  pleasure  which  other 
men  find  in  worldly  things,  his  experience  will  be 
simply  that  of  moral  selfishness ;  but  if  he  is  living 
really  to  glorify  God,  to  do  good  to  men,  to  be  more 
manly,  —  more  manly  in  thought  and  feeling  and  mo- 
tive, —  and  to  be  truer,  better,  and  more  noble,  then 
joy  will  come  to  him.  The  effect  of  the  whole  of 
religious  living  is  to  produce  joyfulness.  If  you  sin- 
gle that  out,  and  hold  it  up  as  the  special  thing  after 
which  you  seek,  you  will  come  short  of  it,  or  you  will 
only  get  a  spurious  kind  of  joy  ;  but  if  you  make  it 
your  highest  end  and  aim  to  live  for  the  glory  of  God, 
and  for  the  welfare  of  men,  and  seek  your  own  soul's 
highest  manhood  in  seeking  these  things,  you  will  be 
happy. 

But  then,  all  men  will  not  be  happy  just  alike.  If 
I  strike  the  table  before  me,  there  is  a  sound  pro- 
duced ;  but  it  is  not  a  musical  sound.  If  I  strike 
the  flesh  on  my  arm,  there  is  another  sound  produced ; 
but  that  is  not  a  musical  sound.  If,  however,  I  strike 
the  chords  of  a  piano,  or  force  air  through  the  pipe  of 
an  organ,  there  is  a  musical  sound  produced.  The 
nature  of  the  sound  depends  on  the  nature  of  the 
thing  acted  upon. 

Some  men  have  natures  that  tend  to  produce  joy. 
Other  men  have  natures  that  are  quiet,  tranquil, 
peaceful,  rather  than  joyful.  Then  there  are  others 
who  are  of  a  melancholy  temperament.  It  is  hard 
for  them  to  come  into  a  state  of  enjoyment.  And 
you  will  find  in  every  considerable   church   a  long 


156  LECTURE-ROOM  TALKS. 

gradation  from  the  top  to  the  bottom  of  the  scale. 
There  is  one  dear  soul  and  another  and  another 
that  seem,  and  are,  full  of  joy.  They  are  pos- 
sessed of  high,  emotive  natures,  and  they  have  Chris- 
tian joyfulness;  and  when  they  pray  they  pour 
out  their  requests  with  great  vehemence.  They 
frequently  speak  of  the  great  joy  that  God  sends 
down  upon  them.  And  everybody  that  hears  one 
of  them  thinks,  "  He  is  a  Christian,  —  he  is  joy- 
ful." Aiid  many  say :  "  I  shall  never  feel  as  he  says 
he  does,  and  as  he  seems  to.  My  life  is  a  struggle. 
I  am  in  a  perpetual  state  of  self-condemnation  and 
of  sadness,  and  it  cannot  be  that  I  am  a  Christian. 
He  is  a  Christian  because  he  is  joyful ;  and  I  am  not 
a  Christian  because  I  am  sad." 

Both  of  them  may  be  Christians.  It  is  true  that 
that  is  a  more  perfect  type  of  religion  which  is  accom- 
panied by  joy ;  but  it  does  not  follow  that  there  arc 
not  many  types  of  Christian  experience  lower  down 
which  are  genuine.  You  will  recollect  that  it  was 
said  of  Gideon,  when  he  was  pursuing  his  enemies 
after  a  long  chase,  "Faint,  yet  pursuing";  and  so 
there  are  many  Christians  that  can  say  of  themselves, 
"  Faint,  yet  pursuing."  There  are  many  who  are  not 
very  joyful,  but  who  are  as  conscientious,  as  earnest 
and.  sincere,  as  others  that  are  joyful ;  and  sometimes 
they  put  forth  a  great  deal  more  disinterested  exer- 
tion. 

It  does  not  cost  me  much  to  be  joyful.  Yet  it 
is  not  a  sign  of  any  attainment  in  me.  I  was  born 
so  that  it  is  easy  for  me  to  be  joyful.  My  mind 
rises  into  a  joyful  state  spontaneously.     It  did  before 


CHRISTIAN  JOYFULNESS.  157 

I  knew  anything  about  religion.  As  a  child,  I  was 
always  merry,  sportive,  and  joyful.  I  have  been  so 
all  my  life,  and  I  mean  to  be  so  all  the  rest  of  my 
days.  But  I  do  not  attribute  my  joyfulness  to  my 
religious  state.  Undoubtedly  my  religion  has  had 
something  to  do  with  it ;  but  I  know  there  arc  many 
Christians  who  are  better  than  I  am,  who  put  forth 
more  effort  to  be  good  than  I  do,  who  are  more  ear- 
nest, more  self-denying,  and  more  consistent  than  I  am, 
but  who  are  not  so  joyful.  With  me  joy  is  largely 
constitutional.  It  comes  from  the  harmony  of  my 
physical  frame,  and  of  my  mental  economy.  It  re- 
sults from  the  balance  of  the  joy-bearing  elements  that 
are  in  my  composition.  God  gave  me  these  elements 
as  gifts  to  profit  withal,  and  I  am  thankful  for  them  ; 
but  it  does  not  follow  that  if  persons  do  not  possess 
them  in  the  proportions  that  I  do,  they  are  not  Chris- 
tians. It  merely  shows  that  they  are  not  happy. 
Some  men  are  conscience-bound,  some  are  careworn, 
and  some  are  sad ;  and,  at  the  same  time,  they  are 
Christians. 

Twenty  of  you,  we  will  suppose,  are  making  a  pil- 
grimage across  the  continent  on  foot.  You  travel 
twenty  miles  a  day.  Some  of  you  are  so  full  of  vigor, 
and  so  springy,  that  you  can  make  circuits,  and  chase 
the  hare,  and  run  down  the  herd,  in  addition  to  walk- 
ing your  twenty  miles.  That  distance  is  nothing  to 
you.  The  next  five  walk  their  twenty  miles  in  com- 
parative ease,  —  without  any  special  difficulty ;  but  they 
have  no  strength  to  spare.  They  go  through  the  day 
and  come  out  fresh  at  night,  and  that  is  all  that  can 
be  said  of  them.     The  next  five  get  along  pretty  well, 


158  LECTURE-ROOM   TALKS. 

but  the  journey  tells  upon  them.  They  are  very  weary 
at  the  end  of  the  day.  They  find  it  hard  to  keep  their 
courage  up,  and  are  glad  enough  to  have  night  come, 
so  that  they  can  rest.  The  last  five  are  tired  when 
they  begin,  and  are  tired  all  the  way,  and  love  to 
sit  down  and  rest  often,  and  they  linger  behind  the 
others,  and  it  is  long  after  the  camp  is  pitched,  and  the 
fires  are  lighted,  that  one  by  one  they  straggle  in. 
But  they  all  get  in.  There  is  a  great  deal  of  differ- 
ence between  the  first,  the  second,  the  third,  and 
the  fourth  platoons,  in  regard  to  their  ability  to  hold 
out ;  yet,  is  it  not  true  that  they  are  all  travellers 
going  the  same  way,  and  getting  over  the  same  dis- 
tance ?  Some  do  it  easily,  some  do  it  less  easily, 
some  do  it  with  difficulty,  and  some  with  still  more 
difficulty ;  but  they  are  all  pilgrims  and  travellers, 
and  they  all  advance  over  the  route. 

Now,  in  going  to  heaven,  some  make  the  journey 
easier  than  others.  Owing  to  the  circumstances  of 
life,  there  are  very  many  differences  in  this  respect. 
But,  although  it  is  desirable  to  be  a  joyful  Christian, 
it  is  not  of  so  much  importance  that  you  should  be 
joyful  as  that  you  should  be  true,  conscientious,  ear- 
nest. Therefore,  I  say,  especially  to  the  young.  Rejoice 
in  the  Lord.  Still  do  not  aim  at  rejoicing.  Have  a 
cheerful,  hopeful,  joyful  courage  if  you  may ;  but 
aim  at  no  motive  lower,  than  God's  favor.  Aim  at 
the  truth.  Aim  at  Christian  benevolence.  Aim  at 
building  up  a  holy  manhood  that  shall  be  higher  than 
that  which  belongs  to  the  world  around  you.  Then, 
doubtless,  you  will  find  more  and  more  that  the  fruit 
of  the  Spirit  in  you  is  joy  and  peace. 


THE  REASON  FOR  AFFLICTIONS.        159 


THE  REASON  FOR  AFFLICTIONS. 

F  you  think  of  Christ  as  the  official  Head 
and  Governor  of  the  realm,  I  do  not  know 
how  you  can  form  an  idea  of  his  tender  and 
personal  love  except  by  some  sort  of  com- 
parison. The  idea  that  God,  who  governs  the  heavens 
and  the  whole  universe,  should  not  only  stoop  to  think 
of  each  man,  but  should  be  interested  in  every  phase 
of  the  experience  of  each  man,  so  that  we  may  lit- 
erally say  that  the  divine  sympathy  attends  every  step 
of  every  individual  human  life, —  this  idea,  when  you 
look  at  it  in  the  light  of  gubernatorial  love,  or  the 
love  of  an  officer  of  government,  does  seem  extrava- 
gant. It  seems  impossible.  Nor  does  it  become  likely, 
and  address  itself  to  our  feeling  as  a  thing  real  and 
true,  till  we  look  at  the  affection  that  we  behold  in  the 
social  relations  of  life,  —  for  instance,  the  paternal  and 
the  maternal,  —  and  see  what  the  effect  of  loving  is. 
Then,  how  trifles  cease  to  be  trifles  !  how  little  things 
and  disagreeable  things  become  neither  little  nor  dis- 
agreeable !  They  are  changed.  If  you  were  to  take 
the  love  that  a  woman  shows  outwardly  for  her  friends, 
and  the  things  that  she  admires  and  relishes  in  life, 
you  would  not  judge,  by  her  ordinary  carriage  and 
the  tastes  which  she  usually  displays,  that  little  and 
almost  silly  things  could  ever  please  her.  But  see  her 
at  home  with  her  little  child  of  one  year  old  or  less. 
Take  notice  how  that  stately,  self-poised,  cultured,  fas- 


IGO  LECTURE-ROOM   TALKS. 

tidious  woman,  who,  in  general  society,  would  disdain 
the  trifles  of  life,  and  still  more  its  prattling  trifles, 
abandons  herself  to  the  little  ways  of  the  child.  See 
how  its  little  quirks  and  pranks,  that  to  everybody  else 
would  be  ridiculous,  please  her  and  engross  her.  And 
since  it  is  very  much  so  with  fathers  too,  every  one 
perceives  plainly  that  it  is  in  the  power  of  love  to 
entirely  transform  things,  so  that  they  shall  seem 
different  and  be  different.  And  that  which  is  true 
of  love  is  true  of  every  other  faculty  or  feeling. 

Through  this  analogy  I  can  understand  how  God 
may  have  an  interest  even  in  the  lowest  and  the  least. 
He  charges  his  angels  with  folly  ;  but  he  loves  them. 
And  if  men  are  a  great  deal  more  foolish  than  angels, 
still  it  is  in  the  power  of  divine  love  to  take  an  inter- 
est in  them  too ;  not  judicially,  not  officially,  not  on 
account  of  God's  majesty,  but  on  account  of  God's 
love.  "  As  a  father  pitieth  his  children,  so  the  Lord 
pitieth  them  that  fear  him." 

It  seems  as  though  the  providence  of  God  frequently 
belied  these  representations  of  Scripture,  and  our 
dreams  and  thoughts  of  them.  We  can  hardly  un- 
derstand how  God,  if  he  so  loved  us,  would  permit  us 
to  fall  into  temptation  and  into  sin,  when  he  might 
perhaps  hold  us  back  by  his  right  hand.  Sometimes 
it  is  even  more  difficult  for  us  to  understand  how,  if 
God  loves  us,  he  will  permit  what  seem  to  us  un- 
necessary troubles,  —  troubles  that  vehemently  afflict 
us  ;  and  especially  so  when  the  troubles  are  just  those 
that  we  should  not  have  chosen. 

Now,  if  God  is  to  afflict  us  for  our  good,  that  we 
may  be  partakers  of  his  nature,  —  and  that  is  the 


THE  REASON  FOR  AFFLICTIONS.        161 

declaration,  —  it  is  very  likely  that  when  he  under- 
takes to  afflict  us,  and  permits  afflictions  to  come,  he 
will  send  those  that  are  special  and  peculiar  to  our 
case  ;  and  we  shall  know  that  they  are  adapted  to  our 
condition  by  the  fact  that  they  take  us  just  where  we 
do  not  want  them,  and  that  they  are  particularly  hard 
to  bear,  —  for  an  afiliction  which  is  easy  to  bear  is 
hardly  an  affliction.  If  I  meant  to  punish  my  child,  I 
should  strike  him  where  it  would  hurt  him,  and  not 
where  it  would  not.  For  if  there  is  an  aim  in  afflic- 
tion, suffering  is  an  important  part  of  that  affliction. 
The  learning  to  bear,  the  learning  to  give  up,  the 
learning  to  submit  to  God,  the  learning  to  say  in  re- 
gard to  evils,  where  it  is  very  difficult  to  say  it,  "  Thy 
will,  not  mine,  be  done,"  —  that  is  the  very  end  of 
afflictions,  many  of  them. 

So  God  may  be  dealing  with  us  as  a  parent  deals 
with  a  child.  "  He  doth  not  willingly  afflict  nor  grieve 
the  children  of  men."  He  does  it  "  for  their  profit." 
When  the  hand  of  God  rests  heavily  upon  us,  every 
one  is  tempted  to  believe  that,  in  his  own  special  case, 
the  affliction  is  greater  than  he  can  bear.  But  only 
think  what  a  time  God  has  had  in  this  world,  comfort- 
ing the  human  race.  Is  there  a  combination  of  cir- 
stanees  that  ever  will  occur  which  has  not  already 
occurred  ?  Is  tliere  a  cause  that  shall  bring  a  tear 
to  the  human  eye  which  has  not  been  in  operation 
through  ages  ?  Is  there  one  thing  that  can  humble 
the  pride,  desolate  the  affections,  or  try  the  patience, 
which  is  not  known  to  men  ?  Is  there  one  element 
left  in  this  world  that  has  not  been  brought  into  play  ? 
God  is  the  consoler  of  the  human  heart,  the  comforter 


162  LECTURE-ROOM   TALKS. 

of  his  people  ;  and  even  if,  in  his  infinite  wisdom,  he 
had  not  known  in  the  beginning  how  to  comfort  those 
that  were  in  affliction,  he  would  have  learned  how 
by  the  universal  experience,  the  world-wide  practice, 
which  he  has  had  in  dealing  with  the  children  of  men. 


RELATION   OF   FEELING   TO  DUTY.  163 


RELATION  OF  FEELING  TO  DUTY. 


NE  of  the  things  which  men  learn  by  a  Chris- 
tian experience,  is  how  to  work  from  a  lower 
intensity  of  motive-power.  When  young 
persons  begin  their  course  as  Christians, 
they  are  said  to  have  exaggerated  ideas.  It  is  with 
a  religious  life  as  it  is  with  colors.  "We  laugh  at 
negroes,  Indians,  and  uncultivated  people,  because 
they  love  flashy  colors.  It  is  true  that  their  fond- 
ness in  that  direction  is  in  part  owing  to  their  balance 
of  organization  ;  but  it  is  in  a  great  measure  owing  to 
the  fact  that  it  requires  intense  excitement  to  make  an 
impression  on  that  faculty  in  them  which  appreciates 
color.  It  is  only  by  the  most  glaring  yellows  and 
reds  that  their  sense  of  color  can  be  waked  up.  But 
as  persons  become  cultivated,  they  take  in  lower  tones, 
until  by  and  by  they  have  what  is  called  an  exceed- 
ingly refined  taste.  And  what  is  the  meaning  of  that  ? 
Simply  that  it  docs  not  take  one  tenth  part  as  much 
color  to  excite  the  feeling  of  color  in  them  as  at  first. 
They  see  beauty  in  lower  tones,  because  their  suscep- 
tibility to  color  is  increased. 

Now,  Christian  duty,  in  the  beginning,  requires  in- 
tense specific  moral  feeling  ;  but  as  the  work  goes  on, 
and  habit  comes  in,  it  does  not  require  one  tenth  part 
of  the  feeling  to  put  a  person  on  a  certain  course  of 
conduct  that  it  did  in  the  beginning.     His  moral  sus- 


164  LECTURE-ROOM   TALKS. 

ceptibilities  are  so  raised  that  less  fire  is  necessary 
to  make  him  boil. 

A  Christian  is  like  a  man  who  has  been  out  in  the 
cold  all  night  and  is  brought  in,  chilled  through. 
When  he  gets  thawed  out  a  little,  he  complains  of  the 
cold,  and  says,  "  I  cannot  keep  warm,"  althovigh  the 
thermometer  is  up  to  eighty  degrees,  such  is  his  re- 
duced state.  After  a  while  the  heat  begins  to  pene- 
trate his  system,  and  he  is  stronger ;  and  although  the 
thermometer  has  gone  down  to  seventy  degrees,  he 
says,  "  Why,  I  am  sweating  !  "  At  last,  when  he  is 
warmed  through,  and  his  accustomed  vigor  has  re- 
turned, he  can  let  the  thermometer  go  down  to  sixty 
degrees,  and  not  be  as  cold  as  when  it  was  at  eighty 
degrees.  When  the  body  is  in  a  healthy  state,  it 
can  work  in  a  low  temperature  better  than  when 
it  is  unhealthy.  And  what  is  true  of  physical  life  in 
this  regard  is  true  of  Christian  life.  Many  Chris- 
tians commit  the  mistake  of  wanting  high  feeling 
when  it  is  against  nature  that  they  should  have  it. 
It  is  an  ordinance  of  God  that  the  sensibility  of  your 
soul  should  enable  you  to  live  and  work  well  with 
low  measures  of  joy  and  feeling,  and  that  this  should 
give  a  much  more  healthy  Christian  development 
than  where  there  are  high  reaches  of  feeling  that 
touch  only  one  or  two  points.  I  have  told  you  that 
it  is  well  to  live  in  an  atmosphere  of  high  religious 
feelings  in  the  realization  of  God's  presence.  So  it  is. 
But  it  is  also  true  that  the  experience  of  Christian 
life  should  so  educate  and  refine  the  soul  in  its  moral 
sense  that  it  can  appreciate  and  make  use  of  all  the 
lower  ranges  of  incitement. 


THE   CHRISTIAN'S   HOPE.  16^ 


THE    CHRISTIAN'S    HOPE. 


VERY  array  leaves  along  its  track  a  belt  of 
stragglers.  Some  are  too  weak,  by  sickness, 
to  go  further,  and  they  fall  out  of  the  ranks. 
Some  are  lame,  and  cannot  hold  on  with 
their  comrades.  Some  are  skulkers.  For  a  variety 
of  reasons  the  ranks  become  thinned  out,  and  a  fringe 
is  left  all  along  the  country  where  they  march. 

It  is  not  altogether  unlike  this  in  the  army  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ.  There  are  around  the  churches  a 
large  number  of  stragglers,  from  weakness,  from  lame- 
ness, from  a  variety  of  reasons,  and  reasons,  too,  which 
do  not  all  of  them  imply  voluntary  guilt.  There  are 
a  great  many  persons  in  every  such  community  as  this, 
that  have  been  professors  of  religion,  but  are  not  any 
longer  known  as  such ;  who  have  been  members  of 
churches,  but  in  one  way  or  another  have  ceased  to 
belong  to  any  church.  There  are  a  great  many  per- 
sons that  have  had  what  is  called  a  liope,  and  lost  it ; 
or,  what  is  worse,  kept  it  and  dried  it. 

I  want,  this  evening,  to  make  some  remarks  respect- 
ing persons  who  are  not  living  an  active  Christian  life, 
but  who  have  some  trouble  about  their  hope.  You 
should  recollect  that  a  great  many  persons  are  brouglit 
into  the  church  while  they  are  yet  young,  before  their 
nature  is  really  developed  ;  and  that  the  struggle 
which  has  to  take  place  in  every  nature  often  comes 
on  after,  and  not  at  the  time  of,  the  initial  religious 


166  LECTUKE-ROOM  TALKS. 

experience,  and  frequently  overthrows  and  overmas- 
ters it.  Especially  is  this  the  case  where  persons  are 
out  of  the  way  of  instruction,  and  have  very  little 
knowledge  of  themselves.  I  have  known  persons  who 
were  very  docile,  very  gentle,  very  sweet,  in  all  the 
early  period  of  their  life,  till  they  were  sixteen,  seven- 
teen, or  eighteen  years  of  age,  and  in  whom  then 
the  tides  broke  loose  so  that  it  seemed  as  though  their 
nature  was  totally  changed.  Elements  were  mani- 
fested in  their  character  which  were  not  suspected  to 
exist  there  before,  as  they  moved  on  toward  manhood, 
laying  out  and  executing  new  plans  in  life. 

Such  persons  have  been  brought  by  father  and 
mother,  not  improperly,  into  the  church  ;  and  it  is 
not  strange  that  when  this  change  takes  place  in  their 
nature,  they  should  throw  overboard  all  their  old  no- 
tions, and  treat  them  with  disgust.  Sometimes  this 
reaction  in  their  experience  continues  for  several  years, 
sometimes  it  continues  through  their  life,  and  some- 
times they  go  back  to  their  old  state  of  mind  little  by 
little. 

Then,  again,  there  are  a  great  many  persons  who 
are  not  subject  to  this  very  marked  change,  but  who 
grow  gradually  and  evenly  to  manhood.  They  are 
highly  susceptible  to  emotion.  And  so,  during  some 
time  of  social  religious  excitement,  they  become  a 
good  deal  interested,  and  everybody  tells  them  that 
they  are  converted,  and  that  they  ought  to  join  the 
church.  They  do  not  think  they  ought  to,  and  they 
hesitate  ;  but  their  companions  are  joining,  and  they 
are  pushed  along,  and  "  sweetly  constrained,"  as  it  is 
said ;   and  they  give  way  half  reluctantly,  and  half 


THE   CHRISTIAN'S   HOPE.  167 

wishing  it  might  be  as  favorable  with  them  as  others 
think  it  is.  So  long  as  they  are  at  home,  and  are  un- 
der the  influence  of  faithful  and  intelligent  friends, 
they  glow  with  a  measure  of  what  seems  like  Christian 
zeal ;  but  when  tliey  go  out  into  the  world,  and  min- 
gle with  society  of  other  sorts,  and  come  under  dif- 
ferent influences,  this  little  beginning  is  overlaid  and 
dies  out.  And  they  are  ashamed,  after  a  year  or  two, 
to  have  anybody  say  to  them,  "  I  understand  that  you 
are  a  member  of  the  church."  They  wish  they  were 
better  ;  but  they  feel  the  inconsistency  of  their  bear- 
ing the  name  of  Olu-ist,  and  the  prevalent  thoughts 
and  feelings  and  actions  of  their  lives. 

Often  it  is  the  case  that  they  do  not  dare  to  get  out 
of  the  church.  In  many  cases  they  cannot  get  out. 
Our  old-fashioned  New-England  churches  were  such, 
you  know,  that  you  could  get  a  man  in,  but  that, 
once  in,  you  could  not  get  him  out  again  unless  you 
fired  him  out.  Once  in,  if  he  went  out,  he  must  go 
to  heaven  or  to  discipline,  one  or  the  other.  And  so 
it  is  nowadays  to  a  certain  extent.  There  are  men  in 
the  church  that  do  not  feel  that  they  are  fit  to  stay 
there,  and  they  do  not  see  any  way  to  get  out,  and 
they  do  not  know  what  to  do.  It  is  a  source  of  great 
trouble  to  them ;  and  tliey  hopelessly  drift  about  in 
that  state. 

Then  there  are  persons  who  have  been  broiight  into 
the  cluirch  with  views  of  religion  which  have  had  no 
permanent  foundation,  and  who  have  found  those  views 
gradually  changing.  They  have  read  and  listened  to 
other  notions,  and  they  cannot  say  that  their  present 
views  conform  to  the  creed  of  the  church.     They  do 


168  LECTURE-ROOM   TALKS. 

not  want  to  take  on  themselves  the  odium  of  heresy, 
and  they  do  not  know  what  to  do.  So  they  sit  down 
quietly  and  do  nothing ;  and  gradually  their  feelings 
become  less  intense,  and  their  suffering  is  diminished. 
But  their  thoughts  remain,  and  they  are  left  in  an  un- 
satisfied and  unhappy  state  of  mind. 

Then,  again,  there  are  others  that  went  into  the 
church  honestly  and  intelligently ;  but  the  cares  of 
this  world,  the  deceitfulness  of  riches,  and  ordinary 
influences  in  society,  have  overlaid  their  religious  ex- 
perience, and  they  have  dropped  out  of  the  church. 
But,  after  a  time,  trouble  or  responsibility  or  increas- 
ing thoughtfulness,  or  some  other  cause,  has  begun  to 
make  them  feel  the  need  of  religion. 

And  here  let  me  say,  my  friends,  that  religion  is  not 
to  be  regarded  as  a  duty.  You  might  as  well  talk  of 
the  duty  of  breathing,  or  the  duty  of  having  the  pulse 
beat,  as  to  talk  of  the  duty  of  being  religious.  It  is  a 
duty  to  breathe,  to  be  sure,  and  it  is  a  duty  to  have  the 
pulse  beat ;  but  we  do  not  talk  of  these  things  as  being 
duties.  It  is  one  of  the  indispensable  necessities  that  we 
should  breathe,  and  that  our  pulse  should  beat.  And 
I  regard  religious  life  as  not  only  a  duty  but  a  neces- 
sity.  You  cannot  be  a  man  and  not  be  a  Christian 
man.  And  everything  that  makes  you  relatively  bet- 
ter than  your  fellow-men  is  an  indication  that  you  are 
so  far  on  the  way  toward  a  Christian  manhood.  For 
I  understand  Christianity  to  be  simply  the  ideal  form 
of  manhood  which  was  represented  to  us  by  Jesus 
Christ.  I  understand  it  to  be  perfection  wrought  lit- 
tle by  little  in  us  by  the  Spirit  of  God  through  the 
truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus. 


THE   CHRISTIAN'S  HOPE.  169 

When  such  persons  begin,  under  favorable  influ- 
ences, to  draw  near  to  the  sanctuary,  it  is  very  strange 
to  see  how  God  works  in  them  sometimes.  I  have 
known  him  to  take  a  man  and  send  him  away  from 
home  a  thousand  leagues,  among  wicked  men,  where 
he  was  surrounded  by  the  most  contaminating  influ- 
ences, so  that  the  greatness  of  his  danger  appalled 
him,  and  he  said  to  himself:  "  I  shall  not  stand  and 
escape  destruction  unless  I  have  something  more  than 
I  now  have  to  hold  me  up  and  preserve  me.  I  must 
have  religion  here,  or  I  shall  certainly  be  ruined." 

Sometimes  God  puts  persons  under  new  religious 
teachings  ;  and  it  is  a  good  thing.  There  are  un- 
questionably many  persons  in  my  congregation  who 
would  be  converted  if  they  would  go  away  from  Ply- 
mouth Church.  They  have  listened  to  me  too  long  ; 
and  it  seems  as  though,  if  I  were  to  send  them  away, 
and  some  other  minister  were  to  take  hold  of  them, 
their  case  would  be  reached,  and  there  would  be  hope 
for  them.  Sometimes  persons,  in  going  to  another 
church,  come  under  such  influences,  social  and  relig- 
ious, that,  though  they  have  been  accustomed  to  expe- 
rience little  or  no  effect  from  the  ministrations  of  the 
gospel,  they  are  speedily  awakened  to  a  sense  of  their 
condition. 

But  then  comes  up  their  old  hope.  One  of  the 
very  first  questions,  where  persons  have  been  pro- 
fessors of  religion,  and  have  for  various  reasons  back- 
slidden and  declined  into  a  carnal  and  secular  life, 
and  their  moral  sense  and  conscience  have  begun  to 
be  quickened,  always  is,  "  What  shall  I  do  with  my 
old  hope  ?  "     One  would  think,  from  their  talk,  that 

8 


170  LECTURE-ROOM   TALKS. 

a  hope  was  a  literal,  visible,  tangible  thing,  like  a  title- 
deed,  and  that  however  one's  old  hope  may  have  been 
neglected,  when  he  starts  again  he  must  connect  it  with 
his  new  hope,  or  else  there  will  be  a  flaw  in  the  title ! 

My  own  impression  about  this  is,  that  an  old  hope 
is  just  like  the  Jews'  manna  on  the  second  day.  It  is 
said,  if  I  remember  correctly,  that  it  stank.  The 
Lord  did  not  let  them  pick  up  manna  for  more  than 
one  day.  If  any  of  them  thought  they  would,  —  if 
any  of  them,  greedy,  as  men  are  nowadays,  picked  up 
enough  for  two  days,  it  stank  in  their  vessels.  I  think 
our  hope  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is  to  be  gathered  up 
every  day  fresh,  and  that  if  any  man  undertakes  to 
keep  it,  it  spoils  in  the  keeping.  And  whether  a  man 
thinks  he  has  been  a  Christian  or  not,  and  whether  he 
has  been  deceived  or  not,  has  little  to  do,  it  seems  to 
me,  with  his  present  duty. 

Let  me  put  a  case  to  you. 

A  man  has  learned  to  read  of  a  very  poor  master. 
He  makes  up  his  mind  that  he  will  take  lessons  of  a 
rhetorical  teacher.  He  takes  his  book  and  reads,  and, 
as  he  reads,  drawls  his  words  and  runs  them  together, 
and  makes  bad  work  of  it  generally  ;  and  the  teacher 
says :  "  Stop  !  stop  !  stop  !  What  sort  of  reading  is 
that  ?  That  will  never  do  in  the  world.  You  are  no 
reader  at  all."  And  the  man  says :  "  Then  I  suppose 
I  must  go  back  and  read  my  A  B  C's  again."  He  has 
already  learned  them  ;  he  simply  reads  poorly,  with- 
out proper  emphasis,  without  any  appreciation  of  the 
sense,  and  without  indicating  the  pauses  ;  and  what 
has  he  to  do  but  to  start  where  he  is,  and  do  the 
right  and  best  thing  ? 


THE   CHRISTIAN'S  HOPE.  171 

Suppose  a  man  has  been  prescribing  for  himself  for 
some  aihnent,  and,  finding  that  he  is  getting  no  bet- 
ter, he  calls  a  doctor,  and  the  doctor  says,  "  You 
have  been  mistaken  about  yourself;  you  have  not 
understood  your  own  symptoms ;  you  have  employed 
improper  remedies  ;  you  have  not  hit  the  difficulty  at 
all;  you  have  aggravated  your  trouble," — would 
there  be  anything  for  that  man  to  do  except  to  stop 
just  where  he  was,  and  take  the  new  course,  that, 
under  skilful  direction,  would  lead  to  entire  sanative 
restoration  ? 

Now,  it  is  precisely  so  in  religious  matters.  A  man 
who  has  begun  a  Christian  life,  and  stopped  ;  or  a  man 
who  has  begun  a  Christian  life,  and  gone  througli 
devious  and  circuitous  ways  till  he  is  quite  out  of  the 
right  path  ;  or  a  man  who  has  been  swept  away  by 
worldly  influences,  — such  a  man,  the  moment  he  comes 
to  himself,  says,  or  should  say,  "  There  is  but  one 
course  for  me."  Right  there,  where  he  is,  without 
stopping  to  think  of  the  past  or  anything  relating  to  it, 
he  should  begin  to  live  a  humble,  loving,  obedient 
life  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Standing  right  in  his 
tracks,  he  is  to  begin  there  and  then,  and  just  as  he 
is,  as  though  he  had  never  had  any  hope  or  known 
anything  about  religion.  Throw  away  all  the  hope  you 
ever  had,  and  take  a  new  one. 

I  do  not  mean  by  this  to  bring  contempt  upon  old 
experiences  ;  but  your  transcendent  duty  is  to  begin 
instantly,  in  your  place,  to  fulfil  your  obligations 
toward  God  and  man.  If  you  have  been  a  Christian 
before,  you  will  find  it  out ;  and  if  you  have  never 
been  a  Christian,  it  is  time  that  you  were  one ;  and  in 


172  LECTURE-ROOM   TALKS. 

either  case  the  way  is  not  to  go  back  and  try  to  analyze 
and  test  old  evidences,  but  to  take  a  new  start,  with  a 
new  hope,  and  a  new  love,  and  a  new  purpose,  for  the 
Saviour. 

It  is  wonderful  how  many  persons  begin  a  Christian 
life  —  shall  I  say  over  again  ?  Yes,  I  do  not  object  to 
that  phrase.  Sometimes  I  hear  people  say  that  they 
think  they  have  been  converted  twice.  I  have  no 
objection  to  that.  I  believe  it  pleases  God  in  the  dis- 
pensation of  his  grace  to  sometimes  produce  upon  the 
minds  of  men  a  shock,  if  I  may  so  say, —  a  spiritual 
impetus,  an  enlightened,  inspiring  influence,  —  greater 
the  second  time  than  the  first.  I  do  not  know  why 
we  should  limit  the  divine  power  in  this  regard.  It 
would  not  be  strange  if,  having  gone  a  certain  way  in 
religious  experience,  you  should,  in  your  business,  in 
your  family,  or  in  some  other  sphere  of  life,  receive 
an  impression  on  your  spiritual  nature  such  as  you 
never  knew  anything  about  before.  It  may  take  place 
where  there  are  prevalent  strong  religious  influences, 
and  you  may  be  caught  and  lifted  so  high  that  you 
will  never  again  sink  down  so  low  as  you  are  now. 
And  your  second  conversion  may  be  a  great  deal  more 
full,  more  clear,  more  blessed,  and  more  continuing 
than  your  first  was. 

Therefore  I  would  say  that  if  you  have  ever  lived 
a  religious  life,  and  if  you  are,  in  a  feeble  manner, 
trying  to  eke  out  your  old  hope,  let  the  past  go,  and 
seek  at  once  the  loving  heart  of  the  Saviour.  To- 
night, without  a  moment  dishonoring  Christ's  patience 
and  goodness,  say  :  "  Let  the  dead  bury  their  dead  ; 
let  the  past  sufiice  for  the  past ;  now,  Lord,  for  the 


THE   CHRISTIAN'S  HOPE.  173 

future,  for  thee,  and  for  life  eternal,  I  will  live,  with 
thy  help."  Begin  like  a  little  child  again,  right  where 
you  stand.  Throw  away  all  excuses  ;  throw  away  all 
pride  ;  throw  away  all  vanity  ;  throw  away  all  shame  ; 
throw  everything  away  that  stands  between  you  and 
your  soul's  highest  good.  There  is  nothing  worthy 
of  a  man  hut  to  obey  God,  and  to  let  the  fulness  of 
the  divine  blessing  fill  his  heart  as  he  obeys. 


174  LECTURE-ROOM  TALKS. 


RELIGIOUS    CONVERSATION. 

Q.  Ought  Christians,  when  they  have  no  natural  gift  in  that 
direction,  and  when  they  are  liable  to  do  as  much  harm  as  good,  to 
make  it  their  duty  to  converse  with  others  on  the  subject  of  re- 
ligion ? 


VERY  man  must,  to  a  degree,  judge  of  his 
own  gifts ;  but  we  are  more  in  danger  of 
erring  on  the  side  of  excusing  ourselves, 
than  on  the  other  side.  Now  and  then  we 
find  a  man  that  is  super-serviceable,  over-zealous ;  but 
twenty  men  are  not  zealous  enough  where  one  is 
too  zealous.  And,  in  one  way  or  another,  we  are  to 
speak  of  Jesus  to  men  whom  we  meet.  It  may  be  by 
the  qualities  which  we  exhibit,  and  it  may  be  by 
some  other  means  ;  but  somehow  you  must  "  let  your 
light  so  shine  before  men  that  they  may  see  your  good 
works,  and  glorify  your  Father  which  is  in  heaven." 
You  cannot  get  over  that.  That  is  the  universal  con- 
dition. Some  can  do  it  by  the  deeds  which  they  per- 
form, some  by  the  traits  which  they  manifest,  some 
by  the  narration  of  their  Christian  experience,  some 
by  relating  the  history  of  the  work  of  Christ  in  their 
souls,  and  some  by  expostulation.  There  are  a  thou- 
sand ways  in  which  it  can  be  done  ;  and  in  some  way 
or  other  the  light  must  get  out  of  you.  A  man  that 
is  a  Christian,  and  is  a  dark  lantern,  is  not  of  the  New 
Testament  pattern. 

As  for  myself,  I  seldom  speak  to  persons  on  the  sub- 
ject of  religion  unless  I  am  addressed  by  them  on  that 


RELIGIOUS  CONVERSATION.  175 

subject,  or  unless  they  show  a  disposition  to  talk  about 
it.  The  reason  is,  I  found  that  the  young  people  used 
to  avoid  me,  on  the  supposition  that  I  would  attack 
them  on  religion  ;  and  I  said  to  my  parish,  soon  after 
I  came  among  them,  "  My  work,  night  and  day,  week 
in  and  week  out,  is  to  spread  the  gospel  of  Christ; 
but  I  wish  you  to  understand  that  you  can  come  where 
I  am  as  often  as  you  please,  without  having  the  sub- 
ject of  religion  intruded  upon  you."  It  was  to  break 
down  the  barrier  that  there  was  between  the  young 
people  of  my  parish  and  myself  that  I  took  this 
course. 

I  think  a  man  that  is  a  minister  may  fall  into 
professionalism,  strictly  so  called,  and  not  be  as  use- 
ful as  he  would  otherwise  be.  But  every  man  must 
judge  of  this  matter  in  his  own  case,  and  with  the 
understanding  that  he  is  more  liable  to  excuse  him- 
self than  to  go  to  the  extreme  in  the  opposite  direction. 

Q.  What  is  the  matter  with  the  church,  that  it  should  be  in  its 
present  state  of  lukewarmness  or  indifference,  "with  reference  to 
the  great  objects  for  which  it  was  instituted  ? 

I  think  the  way  to  test  that  question  is  for  every 
man  to  ask  himself,  "  What  is  the  matter  with  me  ? 
Why  do  not  J  feel  zealous  ?  Why  do  not  I  pray  as  I 
used  to  ?  Why  do  not  /  work  as  I  once  did  ?  Why 
do  not  /  gather  fruit  as  I  did  in  days  that  are  gone 
by  ? "  You  may  be  sure  that  the  decision  which  is 
arrived  at  on  these  points  with  reference  to  individuals 
will  apply  to  the  church  which  those  individuals  com- 
pose. And  when  individuals  come  into  tliat  state 
which  you  long  for,  the  church  will  come  into  it  also. 


176  LECTURE-ROOM  TALKS. 

Q.  "Why  is  it  that  we  who  profess  to  love  Christ  above  all  things 
do  not  talk  to  each  other  about  religion  more  ? 

There  are  a  great  many  persons  that  think  much 
about  religion,  who  do  not  talk  much  concerning  it. 
Many  are  fastidious  about  talking  of  those  things 
which  are  nearest  the  heart.  We  do  not  talk  much 
about  our  miseries  and  our  family  joys.  We  feel  a 
certain  delicacy  in  conversing  on  such  topics.  And 
there  are  many  who,  having  the  same  feeling  about 
their  inward  religious  experience,  shrink  from  talking 
about  the  work  of  Christ  in  the  soul.  With  respect 
to  conversing  about  their  feelings  on  the  subject  of 
religion,  men  are  usually  shy.  And,  after  all,  as  I 
understand  it,  the  thing  that  is  operative  in  conver- 
sation is  the  efflux  of  love  and  zeal  and  divine  fervor. 
It  is  that  which,  coming  out  of  a  man,  stirs  others. 
It  is  not  the  logical  weight  of  what  he  says.  I  sup- 
pose that  frequently  you  preach  more  gospel  to  a  man 
in  a  word  than  you  could  in  a  whole  sermon.  In 
circumstances  where  men  expect,  Ijecause  they  have 
treated  you  shabbily,  that  you  will  perhaps  become 
their  enemy,  if  you  do  them  a  kindness,  and  do  it  so 
heartily  that  there  can  be  no  doubt  of  its  being  genu- 
ine, I  think  they  will,  in  many  cases,  get  a  better  idea 
of  the  gospel  than  they  could  from  talking. 


GROWTH  IN   GRACE.  177 


GROWTH    IN    GRACE. 


HE  promise  is,  that  those  who  hunger  and 
thirst  after  righteousness  shall  be  filled.  I 
suspect  that  the  greatest  number  of  persons 
have  an  impression  that  all  religious  experi- 
ences are  of  a  nature  so  separate  and  apart  from  ordi- 
nary mental  traits  that  they  are  to  be  sought,  not  by 
the  usual  processes  of  life,  nor  by  the  common  modes 
of  education,  but  by  some  exterior,  supernatural  forces, 
—  by  what  are  called  the  means  of  grace. 

What  is  hungering  and  thirsting  after  righteousness  ? 
A  great  many  persons  at  once  rise,  on  the  announce- 
ment of  this  promise,  into  a  very  large  general  con- 
ception of  a  perfect  and  righteous  character.  They 
have  before  their  mind  a  sense  of  superior  excellence. 
They  long  to  be  spiritual  heroes,  —  not  exactly  an- 
gelic, but  something  more  than  creatures  possessing 
mere  human  attributes.  And  there  can  be  no  ques- 
tion that  there  is  in  their  aspirations  a  certain  pro- 
priety. The  state  which  they  yearn  for  is  one  to 
which  we  hope  to  come  by  and  by.  But  there  is  a 
great  deal  of  practical  doubt  whether  this  is  the  right 
end  at  which  to  view  the  matter.  Let  me  illustrate. 
Suppose  it  should  be  said  to  a  child,  "  Blessed  are 
the  children  that  are  diligent  in  study  ;  they  shall  be- 
come pre-eminent  scholars  "  ;  and  suppose  that  child, 
instead  of  thinking  of  the  tasks  of  the  school,  should 
instantly  call  up  before  his  mind  Milton,  and  Selden, 

8*  L 


178  LECTURE-ROOM  TALKS. 

and  Bacon,  and  Newton,  and  Leibnitz,  and  great  men 
like  these.  Suppose  he  should  only  have  a  vague  and 
general  conception  of  what  it  was  to  be  educated,  and 
on  the  strength  of  that  should  say,  and  content  him- 
self with  saying,  "  I  wish  I  had  an  education." 
You  see,  at  once,  that  the  ideal,  as  a  substitute  for  the 
duty  next  to  the  child,  would  defeat  its  own  object, 
and,  instead  of  stimulating  all  minor,  common  points 
of  education,  would  draw  the  child's  mind  away  to 
what  is  called  wool-gathering.  I  think  there  is  more 
of  religious  wool-gathering  than  of  any  other  sort. 
There  is  a  vast  amount  of  imaginative  thinking  about 
and  longing  after  spiritual  traits,  without  any  use  of 
the  means  necessary  to  the  acquisition  of  those  traits. 
What  I  understand  our  Saviour  to  have  included  in 
this  statement  is  this :  a  germinant  state  of  faculty  ;  a 
condition  of  every  part  of  the  mind  such  that  we  are 
dissatisfied  with  the  past,  and  dissatisfied  with  the 
present  as  a  permanence.  We  feel  a  desire  to  be 
better  off  in  the  future.  There  exists  throughout  the 
community  a  real  generous  desire  to  be  more  thrifty. 
Persons  brought  up  in  the  North,  with  but  few  ex- 
ceptions, want  to  better  their  situation.  They  want  o, 
better  house,  better  furniture,  better  pictures,  better 
things  generally ;  and  they  strive  for  them  by  legiti- 
mate methods.  And  the  tendency  to  perpetual  growth 
which  these  facts  indicate  is  right,  even  in  material 
things.  All  I  have  to  say  about  it  is,  that  it  ought 
not  to  be  limited  to  material  things.  It  ought  to  ex- 
tend to  intellectual  matters.  It  ought  to  make  itself 
felt  in  the  department  of  taste  and  refinement.  It 
ought  to  be  a  power  in  the  higher  realm  of  the  moral 


GROWTH  IN   GRACE.  179 

sentiniBiits.  It  ought  to  reach  through  the  whole 
character. 

"  Seest  thou  a  man  wise  in  his  own  conceit,"  —  that 
is,  a  man  who  thinks  that  he  is  finished,  done  up? 
He  will  admit  that  a  little  more  added  might  improve 
him  ;  but  still,  he  thinks  he  is  very  well  as  he  is.  He 
does  not  deny  that  his  moral  nature  needs  a  little 
polishing  to  make  it  perfect ;  and  yet  he  thinks  it  is 
pretty  much  complete.  He  is  conscious  that  there 
are  some  little  roughnesses  and  incongruities ;  at  the 
same  time,  he  feels  that  substantially  it  is  all  there. 
He  thinks  that  his  conscience  is  about  right ;  that  his 
taste  is  about  right ;  that  his  understanding  is  about 
right ;  that  he  is  about  right  in  every  respect.  Do  you 
know  what  God  says  of  a  man  that  is  wise  in  his  own 
conceit  ?  He  says,  "  There  is  more  hope  of  a  fool 
than  of  him."     You  cannot  do  anything  with  him. 

We  ought  to  be  content  with  our  lot.  When  we 
have  travelled  all  day,  and  stop  at  a  tavern,  if  it  is 
but  a  log-cabin  we  are  thankful  it  is  no  worse ;  and  as 
a  place  at  which  to  stop  overnight  we  are  content 
with  it.  Be  content  with  whatever  state  you  are  in ; 
find  the  right  side  of  it.  But  who  would  want  to 
stay  in  a  log-cabin  tavern  more  than  a  night  ?  Early 
in  the  morning  we  resume  our  journey,  and  are  press- 
ing onward  toward  home.  In  our  condition  we  ought 
not  to  indulge  in  a  feeling  of  discontent  such  that  we 
can  find  no  argument  for  thanksgiving.  I  have  no 
complaisance  with  that  mock  humility  which  leads  a 
man  to  say,  "  I  have  made  no  attainment,  and  I  ought 
to  be  baptized  with  shame."  If  you  are  in  a  Christian 
church,  and  arc  surrounded  by  the  ordinary  means  of 


180  LECTURE-ROOM   TALKS. 

grace,  and  have  not  made  attainments,  and  arc  no 
better  than  you  were  before  you  were  converted,  then 
you  have  7iot  been  converted.  But  have  you  not  made 
attainments  ?  Do  you  not  apply  conscience  to  more 
things  than  you  did  ?  Are  you  not  more  generous 
than  you  were  ?  Have  you  not  more  faith  than  you 
had  ?  Do  you  not  have  higher  ranges  of  vision  than 
you  did  ?  If  so,  why  should  you  deny  it  ?  Facts  are 
facts,  and  it  is  not  immodest  to  state  them.  What 
would  you  think  of  a  husbandman  who,  when  he  had 
raised  a  good  crop  of  corn,  declared  that  it  was  no 
crop  ?  But  here  is  a  man  who  has  really  availed  him- 
self of  the  means  of  grace  that  were  placed  within 
his  reach,  who  has  become  a  Christian,  who  by  the 
love  of  Christ  has  been  constrained,  and  who  has 
succeeded  in  tying  up  his  temper,  and  who,  after 
many  conflicts,  is  able  to  say,  "  I  have  made  great 
attainments,"  And  people  say,  "  A  man  that  talks 
about  himself  in  that  way  cannot  have  much  modesty 
or  humility."  Well,  has  he  not  made  attainments  ? 
and  is  it  not  right  for  him  to  state  that  simple  fact  in 
simple  language  ?  I  say  that  about  this,  and  about  a 
hundred  other  things,  mock-modesty  is  not  becoming. 
A  lady  is  handsome.  She  knows  it,  others  know  it, 
and  it  is  a  subject  of  common  remark  ;  but,  accord- 
ing to  the  general  opinion  which  prevails  with  regard 
to  such  matters,  she  ought  not  to  say  that  she  is  hand- 
some ;  and  if  she  should,  probably  all  her  friends 
would  exclaim,  "  What  a  slip !  she  said  she  was 
handsome  !  "  Well,  is  it  not  so  ?  Suppose  I  should 
say  of  myself,  "  I  am  five  feet  and  ten  inches  tall," 
do  you  believe  anybody  would  think  I  overstepped  the 


GROWTH  IN   GRACE.  181 

bounds  of  propriety  ?  Suppose  I  should  say,  "  I  weigh 
one  hundred  and  eighty  pounds,"  do  you  beheve  any- 
body would  check  me,  and  say,  "  0,  do  not  tell  such 
a  thing  !  "  The  Lord  made  a  man  as  he  is  made ; 
and  if  he  is  strong,  there  is  no  immodesty  in  his  say- 
ing, "lam  strong";  if  he  is  tall,  there  is  no  im- 
modesty in  his  saying,  "  I  am  tall "  ;  if  he  is  hand- 
some, there  is  no  immodesty  in  his  saying,  "  I  am 
handsome." 

And  as  it  is  with  these  things,  so  it  is  with  moral 
and  spiritual  things.  If  a  man  is  growing  in  grace, 
he  knows  it,  and  ought  to  know  it,  and  there  is  no 
immodesty  in  his  saying,  "  I  am  growing  in  grace." 
There  is  no  immodesty  in  a  man's  saying,  "  By  the 
grace  of  God  I  am  what  I  am,  and  am  a  great  deal 
more  than  I  was  in  the  beginning,"  if  it  is  true.  I 
think  it  does  a  man  good  to  say  these  things.  Cer- 
tainly there  is  no  harm  in  it. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  is  a  bad  sign  for  a  man  to  be 
content  not  to  grow.  You  have  heard  me  say  that  I 
had  a  large  apple-tree  on  my  place.  It  has  done  grow- 
ing. And  every  year  more  and  more  parts  of  it  are 
dead.  The  branches,  one  after  another,  are  dying.  A 
tree  that  has  not  vitality  enough  to  make  new  growths 
has  not  vitality  enough  to  keep  the  old  growths  alive ; 
so  the  forces  of  nature  are  expiring  in  this  tree,  and 
soon  it  will  be  cut  down  and  taken  out  of  the  way. 

It  is  much  so  with  the  Christian  state.  A  Christian 
that  has  not  vitality  enough  to  grow  in  grace  has  not 
enough  Christian  vitality  to  maintain  what  grace  he 
has ;  and  he  will  be  lapsing  and  falling  back. 

Now,  the  general  spirit  in  which  this  promise  is 


182  LECTURE-ROOM  TALKS. 

made  is  that  spirit  which  leads  a  man  to  feel  enter- 
prise in  every  part  of  his  being,  —  enterprise  in  benev- 
olence, in  self-denial,  in  faith,  in  hope,  in  courage,  in 
love,  in  every  one  of  the  elements  of  manhood.  It 
is  that  spirit  which  leads  a  man  to  strive  to  make  more 
and  more  of  himself.  This  is  to  be  done  in  part  by 
studying  the  lives  of  holy  men,  and  imitating  their 
example  ;  but,  after  all,  the  way  to  grow  in  grace  is 
to  make  each  particular  part  of  your  life  an  occasion 
of  grace,  and  to  see  that  the  little  daily  experiences 
are  kept  in  harmony  with  the  principles  which  Christ 
has  given  us  for  our  guidance. 

For  instance,  one  man  will  want  to  see  a  vision  of 
angels  ;  will  desire  to  have  rapturous  intercourse  with 
Christ ;  will  pray  that  the  invisible  sphere  may  be 
opened  to  him  ;  and,  after  all,  it  does  not  occur  to 
him  that  there  is  a  great  work  to  be  done  in  himself ; 
that  there  are  habits  that  he  should  cultivate  which 
represent  meekness  and  gentleness  and  patience ;  that 
there  is  in  him  a  want  of  unselfishnesss  and  kindness  ; 
that  he  is  so  absorbed  in  his  business  that  he  does  not 
think  of  anybody  else ;  that  he  is  regardless  of  the 
injunction,  "  Look  not  every  man  on  his  own  things, 
but  every  man  also  on  the  things  of  others."  But  it 
is  quite  in  vain  to  neglect  these  obvious  and  necessary 
ways  of  growing  in  grace  by  overleaping  them  ideally, 
and  seeking  to  grow  in  grace,  in  a  kind  of  romantic 
manner,  through  high  contemplative  states.  Grow  in 
common  things,  and  that  will  enable  you  to  grow  in 
uncommon  things.  Grow  in  practical  elements,  and 
that  will  enrich  you  in  these  extraordinary  and  con- 
ceptional  elements. 


EXPERIMENTAL  RELIGION.  183 


EXPERIMENTAL    RELIGION. 

HAVE  received  a  letter  from  persons  in 
Pennsylvania,  requesting  me  to  give  certain 
desired  information  which  may  be  published. 
I  will  read  an  extract :  — 

"  That  you  may  know  the  points  we  most  wish  information 
upon,  permit  us  to  state  generally  some  questions  that  we  would 
be  pleased  to  have  you  elucidate  in  a  sermon,  if  you  will  be  kind 
enough  to  preach  one  on  the  subject  of  this  communication. 
They  are  these  :  — 

"  What  steps  are  necessary  to  make  us  Christians  ?  Can  a  man 
know  within  himself  that  he  is  a  Christian  ?  If  so,  does  that  con- 
stitute experimental  religion  ?  Is  religion  a  delusion  or  a  blissful 
reality  ?  Are  there  just  so  many  things  necessary  to  make  us 
Christians  and  keep  us  faithful  ?     If  so,  what  are  they  ? 

"  Not  wishing  to  encumber  this  note  with  a  large  number  of 
names,  we  shall  merely  subscribe  ourselves, 

"  Yours,  etc." 

There  are  really  but  three  questions  here :  1.  "  Is 
experimental  religion  a  delusion  or  a  blissful  reality  ?  " 
2.  "  Can  a  man  know  within  himself  that  he  is  a 
Christian  ?  If  so,  does  that  constitute  experimental 
religion?  "  3.  "  What  steps  are  necessary  to  make  us 
Christians  ?  "  I  shall  make  a  few  remarks  on  these 
three  points. 

1.  "Is  experimental  religion  a  delusion  or  a  bliss- 
ful reality  ?  " 

I  take  it  for  granted  that  by  "  experimental  re- 
ligion "  is  here  meant  those  peculiar  experiences  of 


184  LECTURE-EOOM  TALKS. 

feeling  wliicli  Christians  are  reputed  to  have.  And 
the  question  is,  Are  they  fantasies  and  imaginations, 
or  are  they  realities  ?  Is  there  such  an  experience, 
distinctively  and  peculiarly,  in  men  who  call  them- 
selves Christians,  as  differs  from  the  experiences  that 
men  have  or  may  have  who  are  merely  moral  men  ? 
If  a  man  knew  and  observed  all  natural  laws  in  this 
world  faithfully,  would  he  not  become  possessed  of  all 
the  feelings  that  any  one  can  have  who  simply  pro- 
fesses to  be  a  Christian  ? 

In  reply  to  this,  I  would  say  :  I  believe,  I  know,  and 
ten  thousand  witnesses  join  me  in  the  affirmation,  that 
there  is  a  distinctive  experience  of  feeling  and  thought 
belonging  to  a  Christian  nature  which  results  directly 
from  the  communion  of  our  minds  with  God's  mind. 
That  experience  is  mainly  emotive  :  not  exclusively 
(for  all  emotion  of  this  kind  is  accompanied  by  some 
degree  of  intellectual  activity),  but  mainly.  It  is  a 
high  state  of  moral  feeling.  The  feeling  in  part  may 
be  painful,  as  in  certain  stages  of  sorrow  for  sin,  and 
in  various  kinds  of  self-denial.  It  rises  out  of  these 
into  low  degrees  of  enjoyment.  It  may  be  raised  to 
the  very  summit  of  the  mind's  capacity.  Every  Chris- 
tian has  not  necessarily  every  Christian  feeling  ;  and 
every  feeling  that  is  experienced  is  not  necessarily 
known  in  all  its  plenitude.  There  is  endless  variation 
in  these  respects.  But  the  main  point,  the  salient 
fact,  is  that  to  the  disciple  of  Jesus  Christ,  who  is 
truly  and  spiritually  born,  belong  states  of  mind  dif- 
ferent from  those  that  belong  to  men  in  their  un- 
christian condition. 

They  are  states  of  mind,  too,  that  can  not  be  pro- 


EXPERIMENTAL  RELIGION.  185 

duced  by  simple  obedience  to  common  natural  law,  — 
that  is,  by  morality.  True  religion  must  include  that ; 
but  that  alone  does  not  give  the  distinctive  Christian 
emotion  which  is  characteristically  the  result  of  the 
presence  of  God  with  us,  and  of  the  action  of  his 
mind  upon  ours. 

Take  a  remote  illustration.  You  go  out  into  life, 
form  many  acquaintances,  and  have  a  feeling  of 
good-will  toward  all  men.  You  form  many  friend- 
ships also  ;  and  there  is  an  active  interchange  of  sym- 
pathetic feeling  between  you  and  your  several  friends. 
By  and  by  you  meet  one  person  who  is  more  to  you 
than  any  other  friend,  or  than  all  other  friends, — 
your  appointed  mate  for  life  ;  and  you  are  conscious 
that  friendship  rises  now  to  a  degree  of  emotion. 
There  is  both  an  intensity  and  a  fineness  in  it ;  and 
there  is  a  reciprocal  surrendering  of  thought,  of  ima- 
gination, of  love,  of  the  understanding,  and  of  the 
moral  sentiments,  so  that  there  is  an  interpenetration 
of  the  two  natures.  Your  feelings  differ,  not  simply 
in  quantity  but  in  quality,  from  the  feelings  that  you 
had  for  a  mere  friend,  or  for  a  common  acquaintance, 
or  for  a  stranger  that  was  a  human  being  simply. 
You  are  conscious  that  you  have  mounted  up  into  a 
region  of  your  own  mind  which  you  never  before 
entered. 

Now  suppose  a  person  should  say  to  you,  "  Do  you 
believe  there  is  anything  in  loving  more  than  a  higher 
state  of  kind  feeling  toward  mankind  ?  Do  you 
believe  that  love  is  anything  more  than  benevolence 
in  a  somewhat  concentrated  form  ?  "  Anybody  that 
had   been   in   love   would   laugh   at  such  questions. 


186  LECTURE-EOOM  TALKS. 

Benevolence  is  well  enough  as  far  as  it  goes ;  but 
when  a  man  has  been  really  in  love  he  knows  the  dif- 
ference between  love  and  benevolence.  And  they  are 
different  not  only  in  quantity  but  in  kind  ;  for,  al- 
though love  carries  benevolence,  all  benevolence  does 
not  carry  this  intense  love. 

A  man  asks  me :  "  What  do  you  call  Christian 
emotions  ?  Are  they  different  from  moral  feelings, 
such  as  all  men  have  ?  Are  they  different  from  those 
feelings  which  accompany  the  keeping  of  natural 
laws,  of  God's  laws  ?  "  One  who  has  had  the  distinctive 
feeling  of  love  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  as  the  Saviour 
of  his  soul  could  scarcely  refrain  from  laughing  at  a 
man  that  should  ask  such  a  question.  For  there  is  a 
state  in  which  Christ  seems  a  real  Being ;  in  which  he 
seems  inexpressibly  beautiful  in  all  his  attributes ;  in 
which  he  presents  himself,  not  merely  as  your  Creator 
in  the  beginning,  and  your  Judge  in  the  end,  but  in- 
termediately, and  all  tlie  way  through,  your  Lover, 
your  Brother,  your  Friend,  whose  friendship  was 
sealed  in  blood,  your  Redeemer,  who  comes  to  you 
bringing  with  him  from  the  eternal  world  all  that 
there  is  in  the  Infinite  of  self-denying  love  ;  in  which 
his  true  nature  is  so  distinctly  portrayed  before  you 
that  you  involuntarily  exclaim,  "  This  is  my  Lord  and 
my  God !  "  and  in  which  you  have  the  feeling :  "  My 
Christ  is  the  universal  providential  governor ;  all 
things  are  given  to  him  in  heaven  and  upon  earth  ; 
the  issues  of  my  life  are  in  his  hands  ;  he  loves  me  ; 
I  am  utterly  his  ;  all  that  concerns  me  is  of  his  order- 
ing ;  he  will  save  me  in  life,  and  when  I  die  he  will  re- 
ceive me  to  dwell  with  him  eternally  in  the  heavens." 


EXPERIMENTAL  RELIGION.  187 

And  when  the  soul  rises  into  that  state,  there  spring 
lip  a  class  of  emotions  that  have  neither  parallel  nor 
analogue  in  the  lower  degrees  of  emotion. 

It  is  true,  and  you  may  say  it  without  fear,  that  it 
is  not  a  vain  thing  to  be  a  Christian  ;  that  there  is  an 
experience,  an  experimental  state  of  mind,  in  a  true 
Christian,  which  is  different  from  what  he  had  before 
he  became  a  Christian,  and  unlike  it,  and  including 
in  it  the  most  blessed  and  ecstatic  feelings  which  it  is 
given  men  to  know  on  earth.  And  that  man  who  has 
never  known  what  it  was  to  exhale,  as  it  were,  in  the 
presence  of  his  Master;  that  man  who  has  not  felt 
that  every  thought,  every  feeling,  every  power  of  his 
being  went  out  toward  Christ,  —  has  not  felt  those 
emotions  which  belong  to  the  experience  of  a  Chris- 
tian. He  does  not  know  what  is  in  him,  and  what  he 
is  capable  of  experiencing. 

.  So  far  as  concerns  the  question  as  to  whether  there 
is  any  such  thing  as  experimental  religion,  this,  it 
seems  to  me,  is  a  very  calm  and  mild  statement  of 
facts. 

2.  Next,  it  is  asked,  "  Can  a  man  know  within  him- 
self that  he  is  a  Christian  ?  If  so,  does  that  consti- 
tute experimental  religion  ? " 

If  it  were  not  that  men's  minds  have  been  greatly 
perplexed  by  diverse  and  often  contrary  instructions, 
so  that  they  are  really  bewildered,  I  should  almost  be 
disposed  to  ridicule  such  a  question.  When  I  think 
of  the  truth  itself,  it  seems  preposterous  that  a  man 
should  not  know  whether  he  is  a  Christian  or  not. 
Suppose  a  man  should  ask  you,  "  Do  you  know,  sir, 
whether  you  are  sick  or  whether  you  are  well  ?  "     I 


188  LECTUEE-ROOM   TALKS. 

think  there  is  no  difficulty  in  your  being  able  to  an- 
swer that  question.  You  either  are  well,  or  you  are 
sick,  or  you  are  a  little  unwell.  You  can  state  almost 
to  a  degree  where  you  are  on  the  scale  of  health. 

Or,  to  take  it  out  of  the  sphere  of  bodily  sensation, 
suppose  a  man  should  ask  you,  "  Do  you  know,  sir, 
whether  you  are  happy  or  unhappy  ?  "  Would  you 
be  in  doubt  as  to  that? 

Suppose  a  man  should  come  to  you  and  say,  "  Have 
you  any  idea  whether  you  are  a  man  of  truth  and 
veracity  or  not  ?  "  If  a  man  wants  to  know  himself 
on  that  subject,  can  he  not  ?  Do  you  not  generally 
have  a  pretty  near  estimate  of  what  you  are  ? 

Suppose  a  man  should  ask  you,  "  Are  you  a  thief, 
or  are  you  not  ? "  Cannot  a  man  know  it  if  he  is 
honest  ?  It  is  hard  work,  I  know,  for  some  ;  but  still 
it  can  be  found  out. 

Or,  put  it  in  a  different  form  still.  Suppose  a  man 
should  ask  you,  "  Are  you  on  the  side  of  justice  and 
liberty,  or  are  you  on  the  side  of  false  aristocracy  and 
oppression  ?  "     Can  a  man  doubt  which  side  he  is  on? 

Again,  suppose  a  man  should  ask  you  :  "  Are  you  a 
British  subject  or  an  American  citizen  ?  Do  you  belong 
to  Great  Britain  or  to  the  young  Stars-and-Stripes  coun- 
try?   Which  government  are  you  under,  anyhow?" 

Now,  if  I  think  simply  of  the  truth,  I  aver  that  it 
is  just  as  easy  and  natural  that  a  man  should  know 
whether  he  is  a  Christian  or  not,  as  that  he  should  know 
whether  he  is  an  American  or  a  Briton,  whether  he 
belongs  to  Canada  or  the  United  States,  whether  he  is 
sick  or  well,  whether  he  is  democratic  or  aristocratic. 
For  religion  is  not  a  mystic  veil  that  descends  upon  a 


EXPERIMENTAL   RELIGION.  189 

man  from  afar,  that  he  has  no  connection  with,  and 
that  comes  and  goes  as  atmospheric  conditions  do. 
Religion,  as  I  shall  show,  has  in  it  all  the  great  dis- 
tinctive elements  of  intelligent  being,  namely,  rea- 
son, conviction,  moral  will,  and  distinct  and  classified 
emotions ;  and  they  belong  to  man  in  such  relations 
that  he  can  tell  whether  he  has  them  or  not,  and 
whether  he  has  them  on  one  side  or  on  the  other. 

But  when  I  look  at  the  feebleness  of  many  persons' 
minds ;  when  I  see  their  want  of  discrimination  ;  when 
I  remember  how  they  are  blown  about  by  many  winds 
of  doctrine ;  when  I  observe  how  some  men  have  the 
idea  that  religion  is  mere  ecstatic  fervor,  and  how 
other  men  have  the  idea  that  religion  is  something 
widely  different  from  that ;  when  I  call  to  mind  the 
fact  that  the  tests  of  religious  experience  have  been 
varied  by  different  schools  and  in  different  ways ;  and 
when  I  consider  how  a  sensitive  conscience  and  an 
emotive  nature  must  be  drifted  hither  and  thither  by 
these  conflicting  views, — I  am  constrained  to  say  that 
a  man  may  be  a  Christian,  and  yet  be  in  great  doubt 
as  to  whether  he  is  one  or  not. 

Why,  there  are  some  instructors  that  seem  to  make 
it  their  business  to  keep  those  whom  they  teach  in 
doubt  on  this  point.  I  know  churches  that  would 
shiver  if  I  were  to  go  into  their  lecture-room,  where 
they  were  holding  a  meeting  like  this,  and  were  to  get 
up  and  say,  "  A  man  ought  to  know  it,  if  he  is  united 
to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  by  faith,  and  is  his  disciple  ; 
it  is  not  only  his  privilege  and  right,  but  it  is  his  duty 
to  know  it."  They  would  say  that  it  was  a  most  au- 
dacious assumption  for  a  man  to  eveu  think  that  he 


190  LECTURE-ROOM   TALKS. 

■was  in  Christ.  Ministers  of  the  gospel  often  teach 
people  that  it  is  a  fatal  thing  to  cherish  such  a  belief, 
and  attempt  to  keep  them  in  a  state  of  uncertainty, 
under  the  false  impression  that  such  uncertainty  is 
beneficial.  But  I  do  not  believe  in  uncertainty.  It  is 
not  a  thing  that  is  recommended  in  the  Bible.  Hope, 
confidence,  positiveness,  is  characteristic  of  a  true 
Christian,  as  set  forth  in  the  Word  of  God.  The 
undying  conviction  that  Christ  loves  you  and  that  you 
love  him ;  the  swearing  of  the  whole  soul  to  the  ban- 
ner of  the  Lord  and  Saviour,  and  the  knowing  that 
you  are  fighting  under  it,  —  this  I  believe  to  be  in- 
dispensable to  any  great  growth  in  grace.  And  as  to 
uncertainty  in  these  matters  being  a  benefit,  it  is  no 
more  a  benefit  than  it  is  to  be  ignorant  as  to  which 
side  you  are  on  in  any  other  great  question  of  moral 
and  spiritual  truth.  It  is  a  positive  damage.  It  is  a 
dead  weight.     It  pulls  men  down. 

I  say,  therefore,  that  a  great  many  men  may  be 
Christians,  and  yet  be  in  great  doubt  about  their  ex- 
perimental evidences  ;  but  a  man  ought  not  to  be  in 
doubt,  and  does  not  need  to  be  in  doubt,  on  this  sub- 
ject. The  nature  of  Christian  experience,  the  nature 
of  the  truth,  and  the  disclosures  of  God  in  men's 
conversion  and  sanctification,  do  not  require  that  they 
should  be  in  any  uncertainty  in  the  matter. 

3,  Then  comes  the  question,  "  What  steps  are  ne- 
cessary to  make  us  Christians  ? " 

It  is  almost  impossible  to  tell  generally  what  steps 
will  make  a  man  a  Christian.  God,  as  I  learned  early 
in  my  ministry,  is  sovereign  in  the  disposition  of  his 
grace.     That  is  to  say,  he  brings  men  to  himself  in 


EXPERIMENTAL  RELIGION.  191 

that  way  wliicli  pleases  liim,  —  and,  in  general,  I  have 
noticed  that  that  way  pleases  God,  in  his  sovereignty, 
which  is  most  in  accordance  with  the  peculiar  natural 
disposition  of  the  person  that  is  brought  to  him,  and 
with  his  former  education  and  his  present  knowledge ; 
so  that  when  different  men  are  brought  to  Christ, 
though  the  general  result  is  the  same,  the  process  is 
not.  You  will  hardly  find  two  cases  in  which  the 
method  was  the  same  in  all  particulars. 

To  illustrate  this  matter,  suppose  there  were  a  vast 
malarial  district,  a  great  circuit  of  country,  in  which 
were  generated  all  manner  of  diseases ;  suppose  there 
were,  towards  the  centre  of  that  district  or  circuit  of 
country,  a  mountain  lifted  up ;  suppose  that  on  that 
mountain  there  was  a  sanitarium,  —  an  immense  build- 
ing to  which  men  might  go,  and  going  to  which  they 
might  rise  out  of  the  morbid  influences  beneath  into 
the  pure  air  above,  where  all  the  conditions  of  health 
were  fulfilled  ;  and  suppose  word  should  be  sent  out 
to  all  the  sick  in  the  region  round  about,  "  Come  up 
hither,  for  here  is  health."  Now,  if  a  man  was  sent 
to  me,  as  the  one  having  charge  of  that  sanitarium, 
to  inquire  what  steps  were  necessary  to  get  there,  how 
could  I  tell  him  ?  For,  here,  on  the  nortli,  is  one  man 
a  little  sick.  If  he  undertalces  to  come,  he  will  be 
obliged  to  travel  by  easy  stages.  And  the  particular 
experiences  which  he  will  have  on  the  road  will  de- 
pend in  part  upon  the  route  he  takes.  But,  whatever 
those  experiences  may  be,  if  he  perseveres,  and  no 
serious  accident  befalls  him,  he  will  finally  reach  the 
sanitary  height.  On  the  south  is  another  man  who  is 
sick  of  a  certain  disease,  who  has  not  left  his  bed  in 


192  LECTURE-ROOM   TALKS. 

six  months,  and  who  requires  a  certain  kind  of  treat- 
ment. He  has  heard  of  the  sanitarium ;  and  he  says 
to  his  attendants,  "  Will  you  carry  me  over  this  road 
by  easy  stages,  and  get  me  there  ?  "  He  will  have  to 
go  northward,  and  his  experiences,  as  regards  climate 
at  least,  will  be  different  from  those  of  the  man  who 
goes  southward.  But  he  will  bring  np  at  the  sani- 
tarium. Another  man  is  off  at  the  east.  He  has 
a  different  disease,  and  requires  a  different  kind  of 
treatment.  He  must  go  by  another  road,  right  west, 
and  his  experiences  will  differ  from  the  experiences 
of  the  other  men  ;  but  he  will  find  his  way  to  the 
sanitarium.  Each  man,  whether  he  travels  north,  or 
south,  or  east,  or  west,  will  sooner  or  later,  and  with 
more  or  less  difficulty,  come  into  the  enjoyment  of  the 
advantages  proffered  to  him,  and  such  as  he,  on  this 
mountain  in  the  centre  of  the  malarial  district.  They 
will  go  by  short  stages  or  by  long  ones ;  they  will 
travel  a  great  many  miles,  or  but  very  few ;  they  will 
ride,  or  will  walk  on  their  own  feet ;  and,  if  they  ride, 
they  will  go  by  public  conveyance  or  by  their  own 
conveyance.  These  various  matters  will  be  deter- 
mined by  the  circumstances  which  surround  them. 
But  they  will  all  go  to  one  point.  They  will  go  with 
different  degrees  of  activity  or  speed,  and  with  differ- 
ent degrees  of  comfort ;  but  the  destination  will  be 
the  same  in  each  case.     Do  you  not  see  it  ? 

Well,  it  is  just  so  in  going  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
When  men  are  sick,  there  is  this  great  central  Moun- 
tain of  spiritual  refuge  to  which  they  may  go  for  relief. 
But  where  they  are,  how  ignorant  or  knowledgeable 
they  are,  how  much  or  how  little  they  have  given  way 


EXPERIMENTAL  RELIGION.  193 

to  their  appetites  and  passions,  what  their  entangle- 
ments and  temptations  are,  —  all  these  things  will 
have  an  influence  upon  them  in  their  journey.  And 
what  steps  are  necessary,  and  how  many  of  them,  and 
how  hard  or  how  easy  it  will  be  to  break  away  from 
that  which  is  evil,  and  take  hold  upon  that  which  is 
good,  it  is  impossible  to  say.  No  specific  answer  can 
be  given  on  these  points.  But  let  me  say,  in  one  word, 
that  this  Mountain  is  provided  for  all,  and  that  the 
steps  which  are  necessary  in  the  case  of  each  to  enable 
him  to  reach  it  will  be  determined  by  his  peculiar  cir- 
cumstances. 

But  we  will  suppose  that,  after  these  various  sick 
persons  have  reached  the  sanitarium,  they  hold  a  con- 
ference with  themselves,  some  calm  evening,  sitting  on 
the  porch.  All  of  them  feel  greatly  relieved.  Some 
are  almost  nimble,  and  are  exhilarant.  Others,  who 
who  have  not  been  there  long,  say  :  "  We  are  better  ; 
but  still  we  have  not  the  enjoyment  that  those  people 
have."  And  they  begin  to  talk  over  the  question  of 
their  evidences  that  they  are  there.  One  man,  spring- 
ing up  and  capering  about  the  floor,  says :  "  Ah  !  I 
know  I  am  here  ! "  Another  man,  lifting  himself  up 
goutily,  says :  "  I  cannot  jump  in  that  way,  and  I  am 
very  uncertain  whether  I  am  here  or  not !  "  Another 
man,  turning  on  his  couch,  and  looking  around  lan- 
guidly, says :  "  0,  if  I  could  sit  up,  I  should  feel  more 
sure  that  I  was  here!"  And  so  they  reason,  from 
their  different  sensations,  as  to  whether  or  not  they 
are  in  that  sanitarium. 

They  go  further.  One  says,  talking  with  another, 
"  Where  did  you  come  from ? "     "I  came  from  North 

9  M 


104  LECTURE-ROOM   TALKS. 

Perdition,"  is  the  reply.  "  Ah  I  I  came  from  South 
Perdition."  "  What  sort  of  a  road  did  you  travel  ?  " 
"  Why,  I  came  from  a  region  where  it  is  winter  six 
months  of  the  year  ;  and  the  roads  were  horrible.  It 
seemed  as  though  I  never  should  get  out  of  the  quag- 
mires. I  did  not  see  one  flower  or  leaf  till  I  got  to 
the  foot  of  this  mountain.  If  it  had  not  been  for 
getting  my  health  and  life  again,  I  never  would  have 
undertaken  such  a  dreadful  task."  "  Well,  then,  I 
am  afraid  I  am  not  here."  "  Why ;  what  sort  of  a 
road  did  you  come  ?  "  "  0, 1  came  a  most  beautiful 
road !  I  travelled  all  the  way  in  the  midst  of  flower- 
ing vines,  and  blossoming  apple-trees,  and  everything 
sweet.  It  seemed  to  me  as  though  I  was  between  gar- 
dens all  the  time  ;  and  either  you  are  not  here,  or  else 
I  am  not,  —  we  had  such  difierent  experiences."  And 
yet,  they  are  both  there. 

You  see  how  absurd  this  is  in  speaking  of  men  in  a 
physical,  actual  place ;  but  it  is  just  as  absurd  in 
speaking  of  men  in  spiritual  experience. 

I  hear  one  man  say  to  another :  "  Did  you  have 
such  awful  feelings  as  you  describe  ?  I  never  had  any 
such  feelings  ;  and  I  am  afraid  I  am  not  a  Christian." 
The  other  man  says :  "  You  say  that  the  moment  you 
thought  of  religion  you  broke  out  into  rapture  ;  but  I 
did  not.  I  was  two  months  without  the  dawn  of  light ; 
and  I  fear  I  am  not  a  Christian."  Each  thinks  he  is 
not  a  Christian  because  he  did  not  feel  as  the  other 
did.  One  thhiks  he  is  not  a  Christian  because  he  did 
not  feel  joyous,  and  the  other  thinks  he  is  not  a  Chris- 
tian because  he  did  not  feel  bad. 

So  it  is  impossible  for  you  to  know,  by  comparing 


EXPERIMENTAL  RELIGION.  195 

your  experience  with  the  experience  of  others,  whether 
you  are  a  Christian  or  not ;  and  it  is  impossible  for  me 
to  give  specific  instructions  as  to  the  steps  that  are 
necessary  to  make  a  man  a  Christian,  unless  I  see  the 
man  himself.  If  I  could  see  the  men  that  wrote  this 
letter,  and  could  know  what  sort  of  men  they  are,  what 
their  business  is,  what  their  habits  are,  how  they  were 
educated,  and  what  their  present  state  of  mind  is,  I 
would  give  specific  directions,  as  though  I  were  a  doc- 
tor, for  each  particular  case  ;  but  not  being  provided 
with  the  requisite  information,  I  cannot  do  it. 

"  But,"  you  will  naturally  ask,  "  is  there  no  gen- 
eral teaching  on  this  subject  ?  Are  there  no  rules  that 
may  be  laid  down  for  our  guidance  ? "  Yes.  They 
are  subject,  however,  to  almost  infinite  variation. 

What,  then,  may  a  man  do,  that  wants  to  be  a  Chris- 
tian ?  Let  us  begin  at  the  bottom.  If  a  man  is  living 
in  known  violation  of  natural  law  in  body  or  mind, 
the  first  thing  for  him  to  do  is  to  reform.  Reformation 
is  not  conversion,  but  it  is  like  John  the  Baptist  before 
Christ.  It  is  indispensable.  If  a  man  is  going  to  be 
a  spiritual-minded  man,  he  must  first  cleanse  himself. 
If  a  man  has  wallowed  in  the  mire,  his  washing  him- 
self will  not  make  him  a  perfect  gentleman  ;  but  he 
will  not  be  a  perfect  gentleman  till  he  has  washed 
himself.  If  a  man  is  indulging  in  drink,  in  illicit 
pleasures,  in  dishonesties,  in  vices,  in  known  crimes, 
the  very  first  step  he  should  take  is  to  break  ofi"  his 
sins. 

"  Will  he  be  a  Christian  then  ?  "  it  is  asked.  No  ; 
that  is  only  the  first  step.  The  breaking  off  a  man's 
sins  is  an  act  of  his  will,  to  be  followed  and  completed 


196  LECTURE-EOOM   TALKS. 

by  his  conduct  afterwards.  The  conduct  is  gradual ; 
the  resohition  to  break  off  is  instantaneous. 

"  Well,  what  next  ?  "  you  say.  "  I  am  not  addicted 
to  any  of  those  indulgences  of  which  you  have  been 
speaking.  I  am  not  dishonest  nor  vicious.  I  have 
sought  to  live  about  as  well  as  I  knew  how.  I  have 
endeavored  to  do  what  I  thought  to  be  right.  What 
lack  I  yet  ?  "  Whether  you  are  conceited  or  not,  and 
whether  or  not  you  might  live  better  than  you  do,  I 
shall  not  stop  to  inquire  ;  but  this  I  will  say,  that  the 
moral  element  is  the  beginning,  but  not  the  ending. 
The  spiritual  element  must  come  in.  What  is  that  ? 
It  is  that  state  of  assurance  which  arises  in  the  soul 
from  the  conscious'perception  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus. 
What  is  that  experience  which  the  true  Christian  has  ? 
It  is  love,  —  and  a  love  which  leads  the  soul  to  devote 
itself  to  Christ.  I  love  thee,  and  I  will  do  what  thou 
dost  command  me  because  I  love  thee,  —  that  is  the  root, 
the  seed-form  of  experimental  or  spiritual  piety.  Break 
off  all  knotvn  sins,  and  believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
and  you  shall  be  saved. 

Now,  this  believing  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ ;  the 
perception  of  him  ;  the  going  out  after  him  with  your 
heart's  affection  ;  and  the  devoting  yourself  to  his  will 
because  you  love  him,  and  because  he  loves  you, — 
that  is  what  I  understand  to  be  conversion. 

Does  that  take  place  the  same  in  all  people  ?  Not 
in  its  disclosures.  The  root  is  the  same,  however. 
For  instance,  one  man  is  given  to  philosophical  reason- 
ings and  investigations.  He  is  living  a  moral  life. 
Outwardly,  his  character  and  conduct  are  above  re- 
proach.    He  begins  to  seek  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 


EXPERIMENTAL   RELIGION.  197 

With  him  the  process  will  be  pre-eminently  an  intel- 
lectual one.  He  will  think  it  all  out.  When  he  be- 
holds Christ,  it  will  be  with  strong  convictions.  There 
will  be  some  emotion  in  his  case,  but  not  nearly  so 
much  as  there  is  in  other  cases. 

Next  comes  a  person  with  equal  intellectual  endow- 
ments, but  a  more  poetic  and  imaginative  nature.  The 
first  man  sees  through  the  truth  by  patient  thought. 
The  other  sees  it  instantly  ;  it  flashes  over  his  mind. 
To  one  it  looks  like  a  crystal ;  to  the  other  it  looks 
like  an  irradiating  star.  The  second  man  sees  the 
same  thing  as  the  first,  but  sees  it  more  vividly. 

Then  comes  the  third  man.  He  perceives  the  same 
truth,  and  perceives  it  imaginatively  ;  but  he  has  what 
neither  of  the  others  have,  —  a  large  endowment  of 
emotive  nature,  and  perception,  and  love  ;  and  with 
this  affection  and  perception  and  imagina,tive  glow 
will  be  joined  deep  feeling.  He  will  rise  up  in  trans- 
ports. He  will  enjoy,  in  new  and  recurring  forms,  the 
spiritual  presence  of  the  blessed  Jesus.  He  will  see 
one  picture  to-day,  and  another  to-morrow  ;  and  there 
will  be  no  end  to  the  productions  of  his  ideality.  And 
every  view  will  fill  him  with  joy  and  love. 

Other  men  will  have  the  spirit  of  wonder  and  rever- 
ence, and  will  adore  as  well  as  love. 

And  so  different  men,  looking  at  the  same  thing 
and  bringing  a  different  conjunction  of  faculties  to 
bear  upon  it,  will  be  differently  affected.  But  the 
root  in  them  all  is  just  this  :  Jesus  Christy  the  CJiief 
among  ten  thousand,  and  altogether  lovely,  thou  art  my 
Lord  and  my  God.  Hove  thee,  andlivill  obey  thee. 
That  is  the  sum  and  substance  of  a  true  piety. 


198  LECTURE-ROOM   TALKS. 

When  a  man  —  no  matter  how  slight  the  perception 
is,  no  matter  how  small  the  feeling  is  —  can  bring 
himself  to  say,  "  Lord,  I  do  love  thee,  and  I  am  de- 
termined to  obey  thee,"  if  he  instantly  begins  to  do 
wli.at  he  promises,  and  goes  right  off  into  a  course  of 
Christian  conduct,  he  has  a  right  to  say,  "  I  have  be- 
gun to  be  a  Christian." 


MAKING   RELIGION   ATTBACTIVE   TO   CHILDREN.      199 


MAKING  RELIGION   ATTRACTIVE  TO   CHIL- 
DREN. 

HAVE  been  requested  to  say  a  few  words 
on  the  subject  of  making  religion  attractive 
to  children,  —  especially  to  throw  light  on 
the  path  of  parents  who  are  despondent 
about  being  able  to  perform  their  own  duties. 

It  does  seem  strange  that  that  which  is  intrinsically 
the  loveliest  of  all  things  should  be  the  most  difficult 
to  make  attractive. 

There  can  be  nothing  more  beautiful  than  the  char- 
acter of  Christ.  He  is  altogether  lovely.  If  our 
Saviour  were  on  earth  again,  and  could  visit  our 
houses,  our  children  would  flock  around  him,  as  in 
the  olden  time  ;  and  he  would  again  take  them  in 
his  lap,  and  put  his  arms  about  them,  and  his  hands 
on  their  heads,  and  bless  them.  If  in  person  Christ 
were  on  earth,  I  think,  that,  with  the  present  state  of 
moral  feeling  existing,  he  would  be  the  most  attractive 
and  winning,  and  the  most  thronged,  of  all  our 
friends. 

And  why  is  it,  there  being  in  the  subject  itself  such 
attractiveness,  that  it  is  so  difficult  to  make  our  chil- 
dren comprehend,  love,  or  care  for  religion  ? 

Of  course,  every  one  will  think  of  this  subject  very 
much  according  to  the  way  in  which  he  himself  felt 
as  a  child.  My  childhood  experience  was  a  very  deep 
one.     I  was,  from  my  earliest  recollection,  healthy, 


200  LECTURE-ROOM  TALKS. 

buoyant,  active,  good-natured,  and  mirthful.  I  had  a 
large  stock  of  animal  spirits,  which  impelled  to  mere 
motion  for  the  sake  of  the  pleasure  of  motion,  or, 
rather,  from  the  impatience  of  sitting  still.  And  so 
far  as  religious  restraint  was  brought  to  bear  upon 
me,  as  I  look  back  upon  it,  I  think  it  was  painful  for 
physical  reasons  mainly.  There  was  something  inex- 
pressibly attractive  to  me  in  the  stillness  of  the  Sab- 
bath day  ;  and  yet  the  Sabbath  day  was  rather  a 
burden  to  me.  There  was  nothing  so  pleasant  as  to 
have  my  aunt  sit  down  and  read  stories  from  the 
Scriptures  to  me  ;  and  yet  there  was  nothing  less 
tolerable  than  to  be  obliged  to  read  the  Bible.  There 
were  very  few  subjects  on  which  I  liked  to  talk  so 
little  as  the  subject  of  religion ;  and  yet  among  the 
grievances  of  my  childhood  was  the  heart-swell,  the 
wish,  that  somebody  would  let  me  talk  to  him,  or 
would  talk  to  me,  on  this  very  subject.  My  child- 
hood was  doubly  strong,  deep,  religious,  both  inbred 
and  cultured ;  and  at  the  same  time  there  was  a  good 
deal  of  impatience  and  some  waywardness  in  my  dis- 
position. 

In  this  matter  it  is  different  with  different  children. 
Some  children  seem  naturally  to  fall  under  restraint. 
They  almost  want  it.  They  lean  naturally  upon  their 
parents,  and  never  feel  happier  than  when  they  have 
something  that  marks  out  the  way  to  which  they 
docilely  incline.  Others  are  naturally  independent. 
They  do  not  think  of  leaning.  They  never  thought 
of  it,  even  in  childhood.  You  cannot  expect  to  take 
every  peculiarity  of  childhood  character  and  by  one 
regimen  succeed  with  all. 


MAKING  RELIGION   ATTRACTIVE   TO   CHILDREN.      201 

The  first  thing  for  Christian  parents  to  do,  is  to 
inspire  their  children  early  with  the  love  of  religion. 
They  should  study  the  disposition  of  each  child,  and 
adapt  their  training  to  the  nature  which  they  have  in 
hand.  Hundreds  of  parents  have  the  impression  that 
a  child  is  a  child,  and  that  religion  is  religion,  and  that, 
with  those  fixed  quantities  given,  all  you  want  is  faith 
and  perseverance  to  bring  them  together.  It  is  true 
that  absolute  truth  is  one  and  the  same  ;  but  men's 
power  to  apprehend  truth  varies  through  infinite  de- 
grees. It  is  true  that  a  child  is  a  child  ;  but  it  is  not 
true  that  children  are  so  nearly  alike  that  one  pattern 
will  do  for  them  all.  And  no  person  can  bring  a  child 
up,  so  far  as  it  depends  upon  his  skill,  without  pro- 
found study,  and  profound  patience  and  perseverance 
therein. 

One  of  the  first  things  that  I  shall  criticise  is  the 
attempt  to  make  our  children  too  good  too  early.  I 
think  many  parents,  because  they  believe  that  their 
children  may  become  Christians  in  the  morning  of 
their  lives,  attempt  to  make  them  adult  Christians  in 
their  earliest  years.  I  believe  that  little  children,  as 
soon  as  they  are  able  intelligently  to  converse  with  us, 
are  able  to  be  intelligent  Christians  ;  but  they  will  be 
little-children  Christians.  We  never  expect  a  child  to 
be  completely  versed  in  secular  matters.  We  smile  at 
his  judgment  and  taste  in  multitudes  of  things  ;  and 
yet,  when  it  comes  to  the  matter  of  religion,  we  think 
it  is  so  fixed,  that,  if  a  child  has  it  at  all,  it  has  it  in 
full.  Whereas  religion  is  but  another  word  for  the 
soul,  according  to  what  it  is,  acting  in  the  spirit  of 
love  toward  God  and  toward  men. 

9* 


202  LECTURE-ROOM   TALKS. 

"  Now,  a  child's  mind  is  immature  ;  and  if  children 
are  Christians,  as  I  think  they  may  be  at  an  early  age, 
they  will  be  Christians  in  an  infantile  way.  If  you 
attempt,  therefore,  to  make  a  child  feel,  all  over  the 
conscience,  all  around  the  understanding,  all  through 
the  sympathies  and  tastes,  as  an  adult  does ;  if  you 
attempt  to  bring  him  up  to  your  ideal  of  an  adult 
Christian,  you  will  make  a  monstrosity  of  him.  You 
j  will  make  a  child  that  is  literally  stuffed,  and  not 
/  naturally  developed.  And  it  will  not  come  out  well. 
Every  such  case  must  have  reactions.  And  persons 
express  wonder  that  a  child  who  began  so  well  should 
end  so  badly.  It  began  ill,  and  sometimes  the  reac- 
tion is  the  best  part  of  it,  as  laying  the  foundation  for 
a  new  start  in  later  life  on  a  better  basis.  Do  not, 
then,  try  to  make  a  full-grown  man  out  of  a  little 
child,  even  in  Christian  matters. 

I  think  a  great  deal  of  the  wickedness  of  children 
arises  from  the  want  in  them  of  growth  in  intellectual 
and  moral  resistance,  from  a  deficiency  in  the  higher 
elements  of  their  nature,  and  from  the  unwitting  coer- 
cion which  we  put  upon  them.  I  recollect  distinctly 
that  I  used  to  tell  lies.  If  there  are  any  here  who  did 
not,  they  may  cast  the  first  stone  !  I  was  truth-loving  ; 
I  preferred  the  truth  ;  but  I  took  refuge  in  falsehood 
as  a  rabbit  takes  refuge  in  a  hole  to  save  himself  from 
the  hounds.  It  was  a  covert  from  something  that  was 
worse  to  me  than  telling  lies.  My  father's  short,  sharp, 
abrupt  way  of  speaking,  and  his  very  abrupt  sometldng 
else  when  I  had  done  wrong,  was  a  terror  to  me.  I 
did  not  want  to  tell  a  lie,  and  I  was  always  sorry  when 
I  had  told  one  ;  but  the  dread  which  I  had  of  being 


MAKING  RELIGION   ATTRACTIVE   TO   CHILDREN.      203 

reprimanded  and  punished  was  such  that  I  sought  to 
avoid  it  by  resorting  to  falsehood. 

Cliildren  have,  not  had  experience  as  adults  have. 
They  have  not  broad  reflection  about  the  consequences 
of  falsehood  as  the  adult  has.  They  have  not  a  con- 
science educated  to  resist  this  tendency.  They  have 
not  had  that  training  which  enables  their  moral  nature 
to  easily  put  down  their  animal  nature. 

Not  that  lying  is  not  to  be  discouraged,  not  that 
petty  thefts  are  not  to  be  punished  in  one  way  or 
another ;  but  in  dealing  with  children  that  are  inex- 
perienced, our  government  must  take  a  form  so  gentle, 
though  firm,  that  the  child  will  never  be  scared  into 
wickedness  within  his  heart.  The  wisest  parents  fre- 
quently find  a  match  for  their  wisdom  in  this  direction. 
It  is  not  an  easy  thing  to  bring  up  a  child,  I  do  not 
care  how  good  he  is  ;  but  because  it  is  difficult,  we 
should  be  more  watchful  and  anxious,  and  should 
attempt  to  overcome  the  difficulty  by  studious  skill 
and  care. 

Then,  next,  it  seems  to  me  we  should  attempt  to 
teach  our  children  as  much  as  possible,  as  the  Scrip- 
ture teaches  us,  by  narrative.  You  never  had  to  per- 
suade a  child  to  listen  to  a  parable.  You  never  had 
to  persuade  a  child  to  listen  while  you  read  a  thrilling 
history.  The  Bible  is  written  largely  in  the  narra- 
tive style.  A  vast  proportion  of  the  instructive  part 
bears  that  form.  I  do  not  object  to  a  child's  being- 
drilled,  little  by  little,  in  higher  forms,  in  intellectual 
presentations  of  truth.  I  approve  of  it.  But,  after  all, 
most  of  the  truth  that  we  teach  children  ought  to  bo, 
it  seems  to  me,  in  a  parabolic  or  narrative  form.     It 


204  LECTURE-ROOM   TALKS. 

ought  to  be  more  nearly  objective,  and  less  abstract 
and  purely  intellectual.  The  fancy  wakes  early.  In 
the  early  youth  of  the  race,  when  the  minds  of  men 
are  uncultivated,  or  among  children,  the  imagination 
is  extremely  active ;  and  no  book  ever  was  written, 
so  full  of  appeals  to  the  imagination  as  the  Bible. 
There  is  the  clearest  indication  of  the  divine  intention 
that  we  should  draw  the  child's  understanding  through 
the  power  of  the  imagination. 

A  word  as  to  the  restraint  which  we  put  upon  chil- 
dren. During  the  whole  of  my  early  life,  almost,  I 
was  brought  up  to  do  things  because  I  inust.  I  went 
to  church  because  I  must.  I  kept  Sunday,  so  far  as  I 
did  keep  it,  because  I  must.  I  do  not  know  that 
there  was  one  effort  made  by  my  father  or  mother  to 
make  the  Sabbath  day  pleasant  to  me,  —  and  for  the 
most  obvious  reasons.  My  father  was  a  clergyman, 
and  Sunday  was  to  him  the  most  laborious  day  of  the 
week,  and  it  was  absolutely  impossible  for  him  to 
take  charge  of  the  children  at  home.  My  second 
mother  —  the  one  that  brought  me  up  —  was  one  of 
the  most  devoted  women  that  I  ever  knew,  having 
been  a  convert  and  a  member  of  Dr.  Payson's  church, 
in  Portland,  Maine.  She  was  naturally  proud,  though 
grace  had  made  her  good.  She  looked  at  everything 
in  the  light  of  duty.  Her  whole  religious  life  was 
strained  very  high,  and  was  filled  with  crosses.  She 
took  tliem  and  carried  them  herself,  and  put  them  up- 
on her  children.  And  everything  that  was  brought  to 
me  was  brought  as  a  duty.  I  must  read  the  Bible  ; 
I  must  learn  the  Catechism  (which  I  never  did 
learn)  ;  I  must  do  a  great  many  things. 


MAKING  EFXIGION  ATTRACTIVE   TO   CHILDREN.      205 

Now,  I  do  not  know  that  it  would  have  made  any 
difference  —  though  I  tliink  it  would  —  if  pains  had 
been  taken  to  make  me  feel  that  the  Sabbath  day  was 
the  delight  of  the  Lord,  and  beautiful.  I  do  not  think 
there  was  ever  anything  brought  within  the  range  of 
human  knowledge  that  was  so  beautiful  as  the  idea  of 
the  Lord's  day.  The  older  I  grow  and  the  more  I 
think  of  the  day,  the  more  radiant  it  seems  to  me ; 
the  more  sublime  is  the  conception  that  all  the  earth 
on  that  day  lays  down  every  secular  occupation,  and 
that  there  is  a  standing  still  of  the  whole  world,  that 
the  soul  may  have  a  chance  to  rise  up  through  its 
superincumbent  influences,  and  worship  God.  And  I 
think  a  child  may  be  made  to  think  and  feel  so.  Yet 
the  Sabbath  day  was  always  to  me  a  shackle  and  a 
burden.  It  always  came  to  me  with  Thou  must  I  I 
did  not  see  the  sun  rise  often  ;  but  I  saw  it  go  down 
always,  —  and  never  without  great  joy.  For,  in  Con- 
necticut, the  Sabbath  day  began  at  sundown  on  Satur- 
day night,  and  ended  at  sundown  on  Sunday  night.  We 
children  used  to  sit  by  the  great  west-window  in  the 
sitting-room,  and  watch  the  sun  ;  and  I  used  to  wonder 
why  it  did  not  go  down  faster.  Now  the  red  orb  was 
down  within  reach  of  the  vapor.  Now  it  was  behind 
the  cherry-tree.  Now  it  was  below  the  branches. 
Now  it  was  almost  down.  And  as  we  looked,  and  the 
sun  neared  the  horizon,  I  would  look  at  Charles,  and 
he  would  look  at  me,  with  an  expression  of  exultation. 
Pretty  soon  it  had  dropped  down  to  the  horizon.  Now 
it  was  half  out  of  sight.  Now  it  was  almost  entirely 
gone.  And  the  moment  it  was  down,  we  would  give 
utterance  to  an  outcry  of  joy.     And  I  recollect  my 


206  LECTURE-ROOM   TALKS. 

mother  saying  to  us,  "  Boys  !  boys  !  "  "  Why,  the 
sun  has  gone  down,  mother !  "  "  But  you  should  not 
rejoice  because  the  sun  has  gone  down.  God  made 
the  Sabbath  day  for  your  good,  and  you  ought  to  keep 
it  cheerfully,"  But  that  thought  had  not  occurred  to 
me,  and  I  was  glad  to  see  the  sun  go  down  on  Sun- 
day. 

Now,  in  the  first  place,  for  children  to  sit  still  as 
much  as  they  ijsed  to  —  I  do  not  know  that  they  do 
it  as  much  as  they  did  then  —  on  the  Sabbath  day, 
is  to  provoke  them  to  break  it.  You  must  not  make 
that  day  like  a  stiff  harness  that  rubs  and  irritates 
the  skin,  but  must  adapt  it  to  the  child's  emotion,  and 
to  the  whole  of  childhood,  in  such  a  way  that  it  shall 
be  elastic  and  pleasant  to  the  child. 

I  do  not  speak  of  the  management  of  my  childhood 
to  censure  it.  I  feel  that  I  have  every  occasion  to 
thank  God  for  such  parents  as  I  had,  and  for  such 
influences  as  surrounded  me  ;  but  I  perceive  that 
there  were  here  and  there  things  that  might  have 
been  modified  so  as  to  produce  a  more  favorable  im- 
pression on  me,  particularly  in  regard  to  the  Sabbath. 
Though  it  was  in  old  Connecticut,  and  on  one  of  the 
highest  hill-tops  of  one  of  the  oldest  towns,  and 
among  the  Puritanest  of  Puritans,  yet  I  thank  God 
that  I  was  born  under  the  influence  of  such  a  Sab- 
bath. It  is  stained  through  me.  I  never  shall  get 
over  it,  and  do  not  want  to.  And  though  I  do  not 
now  keep  the  Sabbath  as  I  was  brought  up  to,  and  do 
not  teach  my  children  to,  and  though  it  might  have 
been  better  if  the  rigor  of  my  early  experience  in  this 
regard  liad  been  relaxed,  yet  the  Sabbath  day   has 


MAKING  RELIGION   ATTRACTIVE   TO   CHILDREN.      207 

been  to  me  more  than  I  can  express.  It  has  left  a  sweet 
association,  a  balmy  and  blessed  influence,  a  sacred 
reminiscence  that  has  transformed  the  face  of  life  and 
of  nature  itself.  For  to  this  hour  I  fancy  that  the 
sunlight  on  Sunday  is  different  from  what  it  is  on  any 
other  day ;  and  the  sounds  seem  different  to  me. 

It  would  be  endless  to  go  over  everything  connected 
with  this  subject ;  but  there  is  one  more  point  of 
which  I  wish  to  speak,  namely,  that  our  children,  in- 
stead of  being  taught  religion  as  a  thing  to  be  thought 
of,  should  be  more  drilled  in  it  as  a  part  of  life,  —  as  a 
thing  to  be  practised.  I  do  not  think  any  of  us  know 
how  much  our  religion  stands  in  negatives. 

Here  is  a  fast  young  man.  He  has  been  breaking 
the  Sabbath  day.  He  has  sworn  a  good  deal,  and 
tossed  off  a  great  many  more  cups  than  were  for 
his  health.  And  in  various  ways  he  has  violated  the 
fundamental  laws  of  his  body  and  mind,  of  society, 
and  of  God's  government.  He  is  arrested  by  thought. 
He  begins  to  talk  about  repentance.  And  what  is  to 
him,  largely,  the  idea  of  religion  ?  Well,  it  is  —  not 
swearing;  not  lying;  not  drinking;  not  going  into 
bad  company  ;  not  riding  on  Sunday.  It  is  a  col- 
lection of  nots.  It  is  avoiding  this,  that,  and  the 
other  thing.  Religion  is  thought  by  many  to  con- 
sist in  what  in  the  New  Testament  is  denominated 
repentance. 

But  religion  comes  after  that.  When  you  have  had 
your  nots,  your  negatives,  which  are  necessary,  then 
come  the  positives,  the  affirmatives.  Real  love  of 
truth,  real  meekness  and  gentleness,  real  generosity, 
real  high-minded ness,  real  love  to  God  and  genuine 


208  LECTURE-EOOM   TALKS. 

love  to  man,  —  these  are  religion.  When  a  man  re- 
pents and  reforms,  he  is  doing  John-Baptist  work  pre- 
paratory to  religion.  Then  he  begins  to  be  Christ's 
man.  Then  the  development  becomes  positive,  affirma- 
tive. We  largely  bring  up  our  children  under  the 
impression  that  religion  consists  in  restraints,  that  it 
consists  in  a  round  of  evils  that  we  must  avoid.  If 
we  could  manage  to  teach  our  children  more  things  to 
he  and  do,  I  think  the  love  of  religion  would  be  devel- 
oped earlier  in  them. 

One  thing  more.  While  we  are  attempting  to  teach 
\  our  children  by  example,  by  precept,  by  reading,  by 
'conversation,  by  using  on  them  and  round  about 
them  all  the  things  that  Christian  society  has  fur- 
nished us,  there  is,  after  all,  one  thing  without  which 
our  work  will  come  short.  You  might  as  well  under- 
take to  raise  flowers  without  sunshine  as  to  undertake 
to  raise  Christian  affections  in  children's  hearts  with- 
out the  Divine  Spirit.  In  some  way  their  souls  must 
be  open  to  that  influence  which  is  the  father  of  all 
that  is  good  in  every  experience. 

And  when  you  have  secured  this  condition,  and 
done  such  other  things  as  your  circumstances  dictate, 
remember  that,  in  the  providence  of  God,  you  are 
working  in  the  family,  which  is  his  ordinance.  And 
when  you  are  tempted  to  be  discouraged  about  your 
children  because  they  do  not  show  the  fruit  of  your 
teaching  in  one  year,  or  five  years,  or  ten  years,  or 
fifteen  years,  remember  that  God  has  waited  for  you 
many  more  years  than  you  have  for  your  children. 
And  God,  who  is  waiting  for  you,  and  is  patient  with 
you,  will  help  you  to  rear  your  children.    For  you  are 


MAKING   RELIGION   ATTRACTIVE   TO   CHILDREN.      209 

under  a  dispensation  of  infinite  divine  sympathy  and 
mercy ;  and  more  often  than  otherwise  the  very  signs 
and  tokens  that  fill  the  souls  of  parents  with  discour- 
agement turn  out  to  be  premonitions  of  the  greatest 
divine  mercies. 


210  LECTURE-ROOM  TALKS. 


REALIZATION  OF  CHRIST'S  PRESENCE. 

HAYE  received  a  letter  from  a  lady  who 
some  time  ago  came  to  me  with  reference 
to  her  religious  feelings.  She  writes  of  the 
benefit  that  she  has  derived,  and  the  great 
happiness  that  she  has  experienced ;  and  then  she 
propounds  the  question :  "  How  shall  I  be  able  to  con- 
tinue the  consciousness  of  Christ's  presence  with  me  ?  " 
She  avers  that  at  times  she  has  had  great  joy,  and  that 
she  has  now  an  abiding  faith,  which  is  the  fountain  of 
life  to  her  ;  and  she  asks :  "  How  shall  the  intermit- 
tent periods  be  shortened  ?  How  shall  I  have  a  con- 
tinued sense  of  the  presence  and  power  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  ?  " 

As  our  Master  promised  that  he  and  his  Father 
would  come  to  his  disciples,  and  abide  with  them,  this 
inquiry  is  a  legitimate  one ;  but  the  first  step  toward 
a  practical  solution  of  it  is,  to  inquire  how  far  one 
may  live  under  the  dominion  of  any  feeling,  —  for  I 
bear  in  mind  that  our  senses  have  no  relation  to  this 
matter.  It  is  a  question  of  the  exercise  of  our  rea- 
son and  imagination,  —  such  an  exercise  of  them  as  is 
styled,  in  the  "Word  of  God,  faith,  or  the  realization 
of  an  invisible  presence  or  truth.  And  the  question 
arises,  first.  How  far  is  it  possible  for  the  human  mind 
to  live  in  that  state  continuously  ?  "When  it  is  said 
tliat  a  person  is  always  conscious  of  the  presence  of 
Christ,  what  is  the  meaning,  the  scope,  and  the  power 


REALIZATION   OF   CHRIST'S   PRESENCE.  211 

of  that  word  always?  Docs  it  mean  every  hour? 
Does  it  mean  every  half-hour  ?  Does  it  mean  every 
quarter  of  an  hour  ?  Does  it  mean  every  period  of 
five  minutes  ?  Does  it  mean  every  minute  ?  Does  it 
mean  every  second  ?     Manifestly  not. 

Let  us  take  some  of  the  most  undoubted  experiences. 
We  will  take,  for  instance,  the  experience  of  a  mother's 
love  for  her  child,  which  I  suppose  is  as  vivid  and  con- 
tinuous as  any  affection.  Would  you  say  that  there 
is  not  a  moment  of  the  day  in  which  the  mother  does 
not  think  of  the  child  ?  It  may  be,  that,  where  it  is 
an  infant  in  her  hands,  its  physical  wants  may  demand 
her  attention  every  moment :  but  let  the  child  be  two 
or  three  years  old,  and  competent  to  run  hither  and 
thither,  and'  take  some  care  of  itself,  and  may  there 
not  be  times  when  the  mother,  especially  if  it  devolves 
upon  her  to  do  the  work  of  the  household,  will  be 
thinking  of  how  to  provide  for  the  child  its  food  or  its 
raiment,  and  of  other  family  duties  ?  Is  not  maternal 
love,  which  is  the  most  nearly  continuous  of  any  feel- 
ing, an  intermittent  feeling  ?  Is  it  not  one  that  comes 
and  goes  ?  Is  it  not  one  that,  under  ordinary  circum- 
stances, passes  out  of  the  mind  and  comes  back  again 
many  and  many  a  time  in  a  single  day,  although  the 
object  of  it  is  present  all  the  time  ? 

There  was  formerly,  at  the  lower  end  of  New  York 
City,  looking  out  on  the  Bay,  a  revolving  light ;  and 
I  used  to  stand  on  Brooklyn  Heights  and  watch  it,  to 
see  the  different  colors  come  and  go.  There  was  first 
a  red  light ;  then  that  would  go  away,  and  a  white 
light  would  appear ;  and  then  that  would  pass  out  of 
sight,  and  a  dimmer  side  would  come  round. 


212  LECTUEE-ROOM   TALKS. 

It  is  very  miicli  so  with  a  mother's  affection.  And 
there  is  no  feeling  in  the  world  that  ever  was  abso- 
lutely continuous,  or  that  ever  will  be,  unless  the  per- 
son who  has  it  is  insane.  Physicians  will  tell  you  that 
when  your  child  has  any  feeling  on  which  its  mind 
dwells  continuously,  it  is  in  a  morbid  condition.  Pro- 
longed feeling  is  a  sign  of  mania.  The  law  of  health- 
ful feeling  is  one  that  demands  change.  The  mind 
is  multiform.  It  is  subject  to  many  feelings.  One 
comes,  and  subsides ;  then  another  comes  and  takes  its 
place,  and  subsides ;  then  a  third  comes  and  takes 
its  place,  and  subsides  ;  and  so  on.  Thus  feelings  act 
and  intermit.  And  as  this  is  the  case  in  our  daily  ex- 
perience of  affection  toward  those  that  are  with  us 
and  can  minister  the  knowledge  of  their  presence 
through  our  senses ;  so,  much  more,  is  it  the  case 
with  our  daily  experience  of  affection  toward  any  be- 
ing that  is  invisible.  As,  where  a  child  or  a  dear 
friend  is  in  a  distant  land,  there  may  be  many  hours, 
and  even  days,  when  that  child  or  friend  is  absent 
from  your  apprehension  ;  so,  much  more,  where  our 
approach  to  God,  or  Christ,  or  the  invisible  Spirit,  is 
rather  through  the  mediation  of  duties  and  acts  than 
by  direct  thought,  the  divine  Being  is  likely  to  be  ab- 
sent from  our  thought. 

My  first  reply,  then,  to  the  question,  "  How  shall  I 
maintain  the  conscious  presence  of  Christ  with  me  all 
the  time  ?"  is  this  :  There  is  no  such  thing,  literally, 
as  that.  You  may  maintain  such  a  sense  of  Christ  as 
shall  diffuse  an  influence  through  the  heart  all  day 
long,  acting  as  the  most  vivid  earthly  affections  do  ; 
but  the  most  vivid  earthly  affections,  according  to  the 


REALIZATION   OF   CHRIST'S   PRESENCE.  213 

law  of  the  mind,  are  alternative,  and  not  unintermit- 
ting. 

It  is  to  be  remembered,  that,  as  the  flute  has  its  own 
quality  of  sound,  and  the  clarionet  has  its  own  quality 
of  sound,  and  the  trumpet  has  its  own  quality  of 
sound,  so  different  minds  have  their  own  peculiar 
qualities.  Of  men  that  have  this  gift  of  faith,  some 
have  it  low  and  faint,  and  some  have  it  strong  and 
overpowering.  Many  times  in  the  New  Testament 
this  truth  is  recognized. 

Now  and  then  you  will  find  persons  whose  faculties 
are  so  harmonious,  who  are  so  sensitive  to  spiritual 
influences,  and  whom  God  has  inspired  with  such 
eminent  upward  tendencies,  that  they  come  much 
nearer  to  an  abiding  vision  than  others,  by  virtue  of 
the  gifts  that  were  vouchsafed  to  them  at  birth.  But 
such  persons  are  rare  ;  and  the  rest  range  all  the  way 
down,  the  difficulty  of  obtaining  heavenly  visions  grow- 
ing more  and  more  difficult,  until  you  come  to  those 
who  find  it  almost  impossible,  at  any  time,  to  form  a 
distinct  and  vivid  conception  of  an  ideal  presence. 
The  great  mass  of  persons  lie  somewhere  midway  be- 
tween having  this  conception  seldom  and  having  it 
frequently  ;  but  nobody  —  not  even  the  best  endowed 
—  have  it  every  hour  and  every  minute. 

Now,  then,  since  this  is  a  thing  which  we  are  to  gain 
by  education,  and  which  we  are  to  come  into  by  de- 
grees, what  are  the  steps  by  which  we  are  to  cultivate 
and  develop  it  ? 

The  first  step  is  health.  If  a  person  should  hear 
some  most  exquisite  organ  music  from  a  complete  and 
superb  instrument,  and  then  undertake  to  reproduce 


214  LECTURE-ROOM  TALKS. 

it  on  an  imperfect,  wheezing  organ,  and,  failing,  should 
come  to  me  and  say,  "  How  shall  I  get  out  of  this 
organ  such  wonderful  combinations  and  ecstatic  effects 
as  I  heard  at  that  concert  ? "  I  would  say  to  him, 
"  The  first  essential  condition  is,  to  see  that  the  instru- 
ment is  in  order.  Until  that  condition  is  complied 
with,  you  cannot  hope  to  accomplish  your  desire." 
Half  the  spiritual  difficulties  that  men  and  women 
suffer  arise  from  a  morbid  state  of  health.  If  a  per- 
son is  sick,  —  especially  in  such  a  way  as  to  impair 
the  nervous  system,  —  there  is  in  this  fact  an  impor- 
tant reason  why  his  experience  is  not  luminous  or 
satisfactory ;  and  the  first  step  toward  a  good,  enjoy- 
able spiritual  condition  is  the  step  toward  health. 

You  will  say,  perhaps,  "  What !  is  there,  then,  no  re- 
ligion for  the  infirm  and  sick  ?  "  Yes  ;  but  that  does 
not  alter  the  fact  that  in  their  religious  experiences 
they  tend  to  be  more  or  less  gloomy  and  desponding. 
It  is  not  always  the  effect  of  disease  to  produce  gloom 
and  despondency.  Sometimes  it  heightens  the  sensi- 
bilities to  the  brighter  influences.  But,  as  a  general 
thing,  religious  experiences  are  sounder  and  more 
rational  in  a  healthy  mind  and  a  healthy  body.  As 
the  first  step,  you  must  be  healthy,  if  you  expect  to 
liave  naturally  broad  and  deep  and  sweet  experiences. 
Health  is  a  Christian  duty.  I  have  heard  persons 
praying  and  praying  and  praying  for  the  presence 
of  God ;  and  I  have  thought,  that,  if  they  would  eat 
less,  and  work  more,  and  spend  twice  as  much  time 
in  the  open  air,  they  would  not  need  to  pray  so  much. 
What  they  wanted  was  not  answer  to  prayer,  but  sim- 
ple obedience  to  the  laws  of  God  in  nature. 


EEALIZATION   OF   CHRIST'S   PRESENCE.  215 

The  second  step  toward  a  realization  of  the  presence 
of  Christ  is  occupation.  This  may  strike  you  as  being 
very  singular.  It  is  not  singular  at  all.  Did  you  ever 
see  a  man  drive  six  horses  at  once  ?  If  you  did,  you 
have  perhaps  seen  six-horse  teams  that  were  not  well 
trained  to  draw.  An  unskilful  man  is  on  the  box, 
and  the  horses  back  and  caper  and  get  into  a  snarl, 
one  having  his  leg  over  the  pole,  another  having 
his  foot  outside  the  traces,  and  all  kicking  and  jump- 
ing. Now  a  trained  driver  mounts  the  box,  draws 
up  the  reins,  cracks  his  whip,  and  speaks  to  the 
horses,  inciting  them  to  the  steady,  straightforward 
action  of  work,  and  in  a  moment  every  animal  is  in 
his  place,  the  traces  are  straightened  out,  and  every- 
thing goes  well.  There  is  no  difficulty  in  driving  them 
when  there  is  a  man  that  understands  how  to  bring 
every  horse  to  his  work. 

Our  faculties  are  so  many  horses  ;  and  nothing  will 
straighten  out  a  man's  mind  and  make  it  act  steadily 
like  occupation.  This  will  keep  the  faculties  from 
running  into  excesses,  and  keep  the  mind  from  gnaw- 
ing upon  itself  in  trouble,  as  nothing  else  can.  And 
that  is  true  which  a  great  French  philosophical  ob- 
server gave  to  the  world  as  the  law  of  happiness,  when 
he  said  that  it  consisted  in  three  things,  —  first,  occu- 
pation ;  second,  occupation ;  and,  third,  occupation  ! 
And  nothing  is  truer,  in  prose  or  poetry,  than  that 
"  Satan  finds  some  mischief  still  for  idle  "  minds  as  well 
as  "  hands,  to  do."  When  people  are  idle,  you  can- 
not do  anything  for  them.  For  instance,  here  is  a 
woman  of  great  susceptibility  and  great  capacity,  who 
is  in  circumstances  of  wealth,  who  has  no  children. 


216  LECTURE-ROOM   TALKS. 

who  lias  no  special  avocation,  who  has  nothing  to  oc- 
cupy her  time  but  a  little  round  of  visiting,  and  who 
is  full  of  ennui  because  she  does  not  know  what  to  do. 
Can  I  direct  her  so  that  she  shall  be  able  to  reap  the 
enjoyments  of  religion  ?  No,  I  cannot.  Not  even 
Jehovah  could  do  it,  without  working  a  miracle,  un- 
less she  has  something  to  do ;  unless  she  has  every 
day  a  regular  and  methodical  occupation  that  will 
give  employment  to  her  faculties  and  talents. 

So,  then,  if  persons  ask  me,  "  What  will  minister 
to  me  a  realization  of  the  presence  of  Christ  ? "  I 
say,  First,  health ;  and,  second,  occupation. 

From  these,  which  are  not  usually  included  in  pul- 
pit instruction,  we  will  go  on  to  the  next  step,  which 
is  association.  If  you  watch  the  action  of  the  mind, 
you  will  perceive  that  it  works  under  the  influence  of 
suggestions.  For  instance,  a  swallow  suggests  spring, 
from  the  circumstance  that  swallows  have  been  accus- 
tomed to  come  in  the  spring,  or  early  in  the  summer. 
Again,  wlien  we  read  of  Zion  and  of  the  JVeto  Jeru- 
salem, those  words  carry  religious  suggestions  to  our 
mind.  And  with  regard  to  the  Sabbath,  with  regard 
to  ordinances  and  observances,  with  regard  to  a  thou- 
sand things,  we  have  associations,  so  that,  when  we  see 
or  hear  them,  they  produce  a  certain  religious  response 
in  our  mind. 

Now,  why  do  you  not  carry  this  experience  further 
along?  You  are  commanded,  whether  you  eat,  or 
whether  you  drink,  or  whatsoever  you  do,  to  do  all  to 
the  glory  of  God  ;  and  wliy  do  you  not  take  your  daily 
duties  and  sanctify  them  ?  To  come  right  at  the  thing 
itself,  you  have  to  get  up  in  the  morning,  and  put  your 


REALIZATION   OF   CHRIST'S   PRESENCE.  217 

room  in  order  :  and  why  do  you  not  form  associations 
with  tlie  arrangement  of  your  room,  so  that  it  shall 
minister  to  your  mind  more  or  less  of  spiritual  sug- 
gestion ? 

One  of  the  Mathers  —  Cotton  Mather,  I  think  it 
was  —  had  an  almost  ridiculous  way  of  spiritualizing 
everything  he  saw.  When  he  was  walking  along  the 
street,  if  he  saw  a  tall  man,  he  would  say,  "  May  he 
be  tall  in  grace."  If  he  saw  a  short  man,  he  would 
say,  "  May  he  be  short  in  sin,"  There  was  something 
queer  in  the  habit  as  he  carried  it  out ;  but  in  the  idea 
of  giving  to  every  common  event  a  spiritual  sugges- 
tion, there  was  nothing  queer.  It  was  pre-eminently 
wise. 

It  may  not  seem  as  though  kindling  a  fire  could 
minister  any  spiritual  suggestion  to  the  mind ;  but  I 
can  conceive  how  a  person  might  think  of  the  kindling 
of  the  Holy  Ghost  in  his  own  soul  while  kindling  a 
fire  in  a  stove.  It  may  not  seem  as  though  going  down 
into  a  cold  kitchen  and  getting  breakfast  could  be 
made  a  means  of  grace  ;  but  I  think  it  could  be.  If 
I  were  staying  with  a  person  whom  I  loved,  on  whom 
devolved  the  duty  of  preparing  food  for  the  family, 
and  who  was  sick  and  withheld  from  activity,  I  might 
say  to  myself :  "  Early  to-morrow  morning  I  will  steal 
down  quietly  and  surprise  the  family  with  a  break- 
fast," though  I  was  unaccustomed  to  such  duties,  and 
though  in  and  of  themselves  they  were  not  attractive 
to  me.  And  as  I  built  the  fire,  and  made  the  coffee, 
and  prepared  the  various  elements  of  the  meal,  I  might 
derive  pleasure  from  the  thought  that  I  was  doing  it 
for  my  friend.    Do  you  not  know  that  many  a  wife  and 

10 


218  LECTUEE-ROOM   TALKS. 

mother,  in  preparing  the  daily  repast,  is  rewarded  for 
her  toil  by  thinking  of  how  pleasant  it  will  be  to  sit 
down  at  the  table  with  the  husband  and  the  children, 
and  see  them  enjoy  the  results  of  her  painstaking  ? 
She  is  working  for  them,  and  that  reflection  lightens 
her  task. 

And  there  is  such  a  thing  as  doing  for  Christ  every- 
thing that  we  do  :  not  with  such  particularity  as  that 
with  which  we  do  things  for  our  companions,  but  to  a 
degree  which  affords  us  satisfaction  and  haj^piness. 
There  is  such  a  thing  as  living  so  that  the  whole 
round  of  common  duties  shall  suggest  Christ  to  us. 
I  do  not  believe  it  possible  for  a  human  being  to  get  a 
vivid  conception  of  Christ  by  rising  above  common  du- 
ties, and  have  it  remain.  I  believe,  that,  if  we  have 
a  constant  realization  of  the  presence  of  Christ,  we 
must  gain  it  by  the  help  of  daily  suggestions. 

The  first  step,  then,  is  health  ;  the  second  is  occu- 
pation ;  and  the  third  is  the  association  of  ideas,  so 
that  our  common  daily  duties  shall  be  made,  in  one 
way  or  another,  to  suggest  to  us  our  present  Re- 
deemer. 

The  fourth  step  —  and  now  I  come  to  the  place 
where  most  ministers  begin  —  is  the  employment  of 
the  means  of  grace,  as  they  are  called.  Just  as  though 
health,  and  occupation,  and  the  association  of  ideas, 
were  not  means  of  grace  !  First,  in  speaking  of  these 
so-called  means  of  grace,  let  me  say  a  word  about  the 
Scripture.  I  think  as  there  are  always  among  violets 
some  that  are  very  much  sweeter  to  us  than  others,  so 
among  texts  there  are  some  that  are  more  precious  to 
us  than  others.     When  I  go  to  the  Bible,  it  is  not  once 


REALIZATION   OF   CHRIST'S   PRESENCE.  219 

in  a  hundred  times  that  I  ever  read  a  whole  chapter 
for  my  own  devotions.  I  turn  to  Isaiah,  for  instance, 
and  run  my  eye  down,  and,  like  one  that  goes  out  into 
the  field  to  rest,  I  do  not  take  the  first  spot  that  pre- 
sents itself,  but  wait  till  I  find  a  nook  where  the 
mosses  are  right,  and  the  flowers  are  right,  and  the 
shrubs  are  right,  and  then  sit  down  and  feast  my  eyes 
on  the  beauties  around  me,  and  take  great  comfort. 
I  wander  along  till  I  come  to  a  passage  which,  though 
I  cannot  tell  why,  I  read  over,  and  over,  and  over 
again.  One  or  two  verses  or  sentences,  perhaps,  will 
linger  in  my  head  all  day,  like  some  sweet  passage  in 
a  letter,  or  like  some  felicitous  word  spoken  by  a 
friend,  coming  and  going,  coming  and  going,  all  the 
time.  I  find,  often,  that  one  single  text,  taking  pos- 
session of  the  mind  in  the  morning,  and  ringing 
through  it  during  the  whole  day,  does  me  more  good 
than  the  reading  of  a  whole  chapter.  Sometimes, 
when  I  am  hungry  for  Scripture  reading,  I  go  over 
one,  or  two,  or  three  chapters  ;  but  it  is  because  I 
want  to,  and  I  do  it  without  thinking  of  doing  it. 
But  generally  I  am  not  inclined  to  take  in  so  much. 
Frequently^  some  one  thing  that  Christ  said  fixes  itself 
in  my  mind,  and  remains  there  from  morning  till 
night. 

You  may  over-read.  Persons  want  to  be  vigorous 
and  strong,  and  they  say,  "  To  eat  is  the  way  to  be- 
come so  "  ;  and  they  gorge  their  stomachs  with  food, 
and  overlay  their  powers,  and  make  themselves  weak 
and  stupid  by  excessive  eating.  And  you  may  eat  too 
much  Bible,  as  well  as  too  much  bread. 

Prayer  is  another. of  the  recognized  means  of  grace; 


220  LECTURE-EOOM   TALKS. 

and  some  people  attempt  to  bring  down  blessings  by 
much  praying.  They  bombard  the  throne  of  grace,  as 
it  were,  without  any  definite  object  in  their  mind.  They 
pray  without  knowing  exactly  what  they  are  praying 
for.  This  is  not  wise.  In  my  own  experience  I  have 
found  that  when  my  thoughts  have  been  withdrawn  to 
other  things,  and,  being  brought  back  to  God,  my  mind 
is  not  eager  to  hold  converse  with  him,  it  is  not  well 
to  plead  with  him  in  measured  prayers,  as  though  I 
were  bound  to  say  so  much  to  him  every  day,  and  as 
though  he  would  not  be  satisfied  with  anything  less. 
My  father  and  mother  and  friends  never  required  me 
to  talk  with  them  a  given  amount.  If  I  came  where 
they  were,  and  did  not  feel  like  talking,  they  bore  with 
my  silence.  And  if,  when  we  go  to  God,  we  do  not  feel 
like  talking  much,  he  will  not  blame  us  for  talking 
only  a  little.  So  that,  when  I  go  to  God,  if  I  do  not 
feel  like  making  long  prayers,  I  make  short  ones.  I 
do  it,  first,  because  I  have  not  much  to  say,  and  it  is 
not  truthful  to  go  on  praying  when  you  have  nothing 
to  say ;  and,  secondly,  because  short  prayers  under 
such  circumstances  are  positively  more  beneficial  than 
long  ones. 

Then,  it  is  often  exceedingly  desirable  that  you 
should  kindle  your  zeal  by  sympathetic  contact  with 
other  people  ;  and  it  is  frequently  the  case,  that,  when 
you  go  among  Christians,  you  meet  those  whose  zeal 
kindles  yours,  and  that  you  go  away  feeling  like  a 
Christian,  though  when  you.  came  you  felt  more  like 
almost  anything  else  than  that. 

This  does  not  always  take  place  in  your  dwellings  ; 
but  sometimes  God  sends  to  you  there  a  saint,  at  the 


REALIZATION   OF   CHRIST'S  PRESENCE.  221 

light  of  whose  soul  you  can  kindle  a  light  for  your 
own  soul. 

When  this  does  not  take  place,  you  can  sing.  Blessed 
be  God  for  hymns  !  Hymns  are  songs  of  the  soul.  And 
any  man  that  wants  to  chord  any  state  of  mind  can 
do  so  if  he  is  familiar  with  the  hymn-book.  For  the 
hymns  that  it  contains  are  representations  of  real  ex- 
periences in  others  ;  and  we  find  that  representations 
of  experiences  which  came  from  a  reality  in  others  are 
apt  to  touch  a  corresponding  reality  in  us.  As  for 
myself,  I  count  the  singing  of  hymns  as  being  among 
the  most  eminent  ways  in  which  the  soul  can  be 
brought  into  the  conscious  presence  of  Christ  at  its 
own  sweet  will.  The  shepherds  heard  the  angels  sing- 
ing in  the  sky.  Soon,  however,  the  angels  left  them, 
and  they  heard  them  no  more.  But  we  have  a  sky  in 
which  the  angels  sing,  and  we  can  hear  them  when  we 
have  a  mind  to.  The  songs  of  saints  are  angel-voices 
to  us. 

When  one  wishes  to  kindle  m  his  soul  a  vivid  sense 
of  the  presence  of  Christ,  the  conditions  which  I  have 
mentioned  being  taken  for  granted,  great  help  can  be 
obtained  from  reading  works  like  the  Lives  of  Harlan 
Page,  Edward  Payson,  and  Henry  Martyn,  whose  his- 
tory used  to  be  a  great  favorite  with  me.  The  reading 
of  such  works  almost  always  kindled  me  with  religious 
zeal,  and  never  failed  to  exert  a  powerful  influence  on 
me.  I  never  read  the  account  of  Henry  Martyn's  last 
recorded  hour,  and  never  till  I  die  shall  I  read  it, 
without  shedding  tears.  Whatever  was  my  mood, 
when  I  resorted  to  books  of  this  kind  they  invariably 
wrought  upon  me  wonderfully.     And  in  the  use  of 


222  LECTURE-KOOM  TALKS. 

hymns  I  have  had  substantially  the  same  experience. 
It  has  been  a  very  desperate  case  of  stupidity  in  which 
I  could  not  rally  my  religious  feeling  on  a  hymn. 
Hymns  are  like  trumpet-calls  to  a  sleeping  warrior, 
which  wake  him,  and  instantly  bring  him  to  his  feet, 
sword  in  hand. 

Well,  there  is  one  step  more.  While  we  are  not 
unmindful  of  health,  and  occupation,  and  association, 
and  the  cultivation  of  religious  feelings  by  the  use  of 
those  same  feelings  as  they  have  been  expressed  by 
others,  there  should  be  one  thing  more.  We  are  to 
do  all  this  with  a  certain  sort  of  low  tone  or  child- 
likeness  ;  not  with  a  rigor  of  desire  which  implies 
such  a  tension  and  stress  of  mind  that  the  nervous 
energy  is  exhausted,  and  that  we  do  not  have  an 
answer  to  our  longings,  because  the  vitality  is  want- 
ing on  which  that  answer  was  to  have  developed  it- 
self. We  are  to  be  in  such  a  condition  of  simplicity 
as  shall  keep  the  mind,  if  possible,  from  becoming 
overwrought,  because  an  answer  that  shall  bring 
Christ  to  the  soul  must  have  a  wholesome  state  of 
mind  on  which  to  expand  itself. 

If  I  had  been  talking  to  particular  individuals,  I 
should  have  been  obliged  to  make  some  modifications 
in  what  I  have  said  ;  but  these  are  general  views, 
which  I  give  for  the  benefit  of  the  many.  They  will, 
I  doubt  not,  apply  to  a  large  proportion  of  cases  where 
difficulties  are  experienced  such  as  I  have  been  con- 
sidering. And  I  think  that,  as  a  general  thing,  if 
persons  will  pursue  this  course,  they  will  come  as 
near  having  the  presence  of  Christ  with  them,  con- 
sciously and  continually,  as  is  possible  for  them  ac- 


REALIZATION   OF   CHRIST'S   PRESENCE.  223 

cording  to  their  natural  gifts.  And  as  we  form  the 
habit  of  doing  it,  the  difficulties  decrease,  and  our 
power  of  realizing  Christ  ever  present  increases. 

I  do  not  know  of  a  day  for  years  in  which  I  have 
not  been  able,  almost  at  will,  during  some  part  of  the 
day,  to  form  very  vivid  and  satisfying  views,  some- 
times of  one  kind,  and  sometimes  of  another,  of  the 
great  invisible  world,  and  of  Him  that  dwells  therein. 
But  with  me  it  lias  been  a  matter  of  education  and 
constant  habit.  And  there  is  this  comfort  before 
you :  that  though  at  first  it  may  be  difficult  to  form 
such  views,  yet  by  perseverance  and  steady  culture  it 
grows  more  and  more  easy,  until  at  last  it  becomes  a 
second  nature. 


224  LECTURE-ROOM  TALKS. 

ASSURANCE    OF    SALVATION. 

ET  me  read  a  letter  that  I  have  recently  re- 
'"'^^    ceived  :  — 


"  Mr.  Beecher,  —  Do  you  think  it  is  our  privilege 
as  Christians  to  have  an  abiding  assurance  of  our  ac- 
ceptance ?  At  the  age  of  eight  years  I  united  with  the  church. 
From  that  time,  the  life  to  come  has  been  uppermost  in  my  mind  ; 
and  to  be  fitted  for  that  life,  the  strongest  desire  of  my  heart.  At 
that  time,  and  through  most  of  my  childhood,  I  enjoyed  assurance  ; 
but  gradually  fears  that  I  might  be  deceived  troubled  me  exceed- 
ingly. I  have  never  felt  impelled  to  give  up  my  hope ;  but  it  has 
not  been  as  firm  as  it  ought  to  be,  —  an  anchor  sure  and  steadfast 
to  my  soul.  At  times  my  fears  and  doubts  are  so  great  as  to  al- 
most unfit  me  for  the  duties  of  life.  How  can  I  be  delivered  from 
them  ?  I  pray  God  that  you  may  be  able  to  teach  me,  lest  I  be 
found  at  last  among  the  fearful  ones  without  the  gate  of  the  New 
Jerusalem. 

"  One  who  longs  to  know  that  She  will 
awake  in  the  resurrection  morn- 
ING  IN  THE  Likeness  of  Christ." 

This  letter  gives  evidence  of  coming  from  a  person 
that  is  very  deeply  religious.  It  is  simple  and  sincere  ; 
and,  as  it  covers  a  ground  on  which  thousands  stand, 
I  may  perhaps  meet  a  general  want  by  occupying  some 
time  with  this  petitioner's  request. 

In  the  first  place,  what  is  that  after  which  she  and 
others  like  her  are  feeling?  I  understand  it  to  be 
such  a  conviction  of  personal  interest  in  Christ  as 
shall  give  rest,  if  not  joy.  What  she  means  by  "  as- 
surance of  acceptance,"  then,  is  a  conviction  that  she 


ASSURANCE  OF  SALVATION.  .        225 

lias  such  a  permanent  relation  with  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  as  will  result  in  her  guidance  through  life,  in 
her  support  in  death,  and  in  her  salvation  in  the  world 
to  come.  And  the  question  arises,  May  one  have  the 
assurance,  may  one  have  the  certainty,  of  being  saved 
by  and  by  ? 

Well,  as  it  respects  certainty,  all  that  one  wants  for 
certainty  is  to  have  that  which  is  a  comforting  convic- 
tion. It  may  be  certain,  or  it  may  not ;  but  it  amounts 
to  the  same  thing,  so  far  as  the  feeling  is  concerned, 
if  one  has  a  conviction  which  dispels  fear,  buoys  up 
hope,  and  produces  peace  or  joy. 

Is  there,  then,  any  provision  in  the  truth  of  the 
gospel,  on  which  one  may  rely  in  this  regard  ?  Did 
our  Saviour  contemplate  that  his  original  disciples 
should  have  an  abiding  and  quieting  conviction  of 
their  acceptance  with  God  and  their  final  salvation  ? 
I  do  not  see  how  anybody  can  read  the  life  of  Christ, 
and  the  history  of  his  discourses  to  his  disciples,  and 
have  any  doubt  on  that  subject.  To  me  it  is  as  clear 
as  the  noonday  sun.  It  seems  to  me  that  my  children 
have  as  much  reason  to  doubt  whether  my  house  is  to 
be  their  home  as  long  as  they  live,  as  the  disciples  of 
Christ  had  to  doubt  that  their  condition  ran  through 
this  life,  and  took  hold  on  the  life  that  is  to  come. 
He  designed  that  they  should  have  faith  in  the  future. 
He  even  carried  it  further  than  we  should  be  inclined 
to  do.  We  should  say  that  a  man  ought  to  be  more 
anxious  to  perform  his  practical  duties  in  life  than  to 
have  a  guaranty  of  this  or  that  condition  beyond  this 
world ;  but  Christ  said :  Do  not  merely  look  upon 
your  present  work  here ;  also  have  regard  to  the  fu- 

10*  o 


226  LECTURE-ROOM  TALKS. 

ture  final  result.  And  the  early  disciples,  under  the 
Apostles'  teaching,  were  taught  to  rest  in  a  perfect  cer- 
tainty of  the  love  of  God  to  their  soul,  and  of  their 
salvableness.  Their  Christian  life,  although  it  was  a 
warfare,  was  a  victory  too.  And  through  all  their 
sufferings,  being,  as  they  were,  beleaguered  by  enemies, 
and  surrounded  by  temptations  which  caused  them 
frequently  to  stumble  and  fall  into  sin,  there  was  such 
a  view  of  Christ  presented  to  them  that  the  Apostles 
expected  that  they  would  rejoice.  "  Rejoice  in  the 
Lord  always,"  says  the  Apostle  ;  "  and  again  I  say, 
Rejoice  !^^  And  the  comfort  of  the  Spirit  was  declared 
to  be  peace  and  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost,  among  other 
things.  Thus  you  will  find,  that,  in  all  cases  where 
there  is  inspired  teaching  on  this  point,  there  was  be- 
lieved to  be  such  a  relation  between  the  converted  soul 
and  the  Lord  and  Master  as  to  fill  the  soul  with  light 
and  joy  and  peace. 

Now  for  an  answer  to  the  first  question  which  I 
proposed,  namely.  Is  there  provision  made  in  the 
gospel  for  assurance  of  salvation  ?  I  say  unhesitat- 
ingly that  this  is  the  teaching  of  the  New  Testament. 

The  next  question  that  arises  is  this  :  Is  there  no 
argument  of  fear  and  doubt  in  the  New  Testament  ? 
Yes.  "  Let  us,"  says  the  Apostle,  "  labor  to  enter 
into  that  rest,  lest  any  man  fall  after  the  example  of 
unbelief."  There  is  argument  of  fear,  but  is  it  to 
be  a  paralyzing,  chronic  fear  ?  Is  it  to  be  anything 
more  than  a  motive  for  us  to  make  our  calling  and 
election  sure  ?  There  is  a  kind  of  fear  which  spreads 
over  the  soul  like  a  mist  and  fog.  It  neither  rains 
nor  is  dispelled.     Day  and  night  it  wraps  the  soul 


ASSURANCE   OF   SALVATION.  227 

in  its  cliilling  and  visionless  embrace.  That  is  a 
very  disastrous  form  of  fear.  It  is  low,  annoying, 
deadening.  There  is  another  kind  which  is  like  a 
sharp  rain-storm  in  summer.  A  great  deal  of  thun- 
der and  lightning  comes  with  it,  but  it  soon  passes 
away,  and  everything  is  better  for  it.  This  kind  of 
fear,  instead  of  being  deadening  and-  paralyzing,  is 
quickening  and  vitalizing,  and  it  brings  a  man  to  see 
how  important  it  is  that  he  should  examine  his  ground 
and  know  that  he  stands.  It  is  a  kind  of  fear  which, 
so  far  from  being  injurious,  is  to  the  last  degree  salu- 
tary. 

While,  then,  there  is  in  the  gospel  a  recognition  of 
the  function  of  fear,  it  is  also  taught  that  loiili  it,  and 
in  part  hy  it,  we  are  to  come  to  a  state  in  which  we 
have  an  abiding  confidence  that  our  souls  shall  be 
saved  through  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  So  much  for 
the  groundwork. 

Now,  the  question  comes  up.  May  I  attain  to  this 
assurance  ?  This  depends  upon  two  grand  elements. 
First,  it  depends  upon  the  teaching  to  which  one  has 
been  subject.  Secondly,  it  depends  on  one's  peculiar 
personal  disposition. 

You  are  aware  how  different  ministers  are,  not  by  a 
difference  of  the  truths  which  they  preach,  but  by  a 
difference  of  the  emphasis  which  they  put  upon  truths. 
One  minister  is  a  man  of  great  conscience.  He  is  not 
without  benevolence,  and  he  is  not  without  sympathy  ; 
but  these  are  decidedly  secondary  in  his  nature.  Con- 
science, in  the  sense  of  authority  and  government, 
predominates  in  him.  In  the  Word  of  God,  all 
through,  he  sees  government,  divine  authority,  divine 


228  lecture-eoojM  talks. 

headship.  And  when  he  teaches,  his  mind  runs 
through  those  tropics.  He  insists  upon  the  law. 
He  says  that  God  is  a  consuming  fire,  twenty-five 
times  in  a  year,  and  twice  in  a  year  that  God  is  love. 
He  emphasizes  those  parts  of  the  gospel  which  appeal 
to  fear. 

I  remember  a  venerated  minister  who,  when  he  saw 
persons  in  an  elated  state  of  mind  in  the  belief  that 
they  were  converted,  always  said :  "  My  child,  take 
care  !  It  is  an  awful  thing  to  be  deceived."  He  put 
them  right  back  on  the  ground  of  fear.  And  if  it 
had  not  been  that  he  had  common  sense,  so  that  he 
supplemented  these  warnings  with  instructions  that 
amounted  to  a  correction  of  them,  he  would  have 
driven  young  Christians  into  despair  or  indifferentism. 

I  know  how  it  was  with  me  in  this  regard.  Had  it 
not  been  for  my  buoyant  temperament,  I  could  not 
have  gone  through  what  I  did  during  my  early  years 
in  my  father's  house  without  being  driven  into  despair. 
I  had  a  vivid  imagination,  that  caught  and  unduly 
colored  truths  when  they  were  presented  to  it ;  and 
the  sense  of  infinity,  the  outreaching,  unrolling,  end- 
lessness of  eternity,  and  the  thought  that  it  all  bal- 
anced on  a  single  volition,  have  at  times  whelmed  me, 
if  not  in  despair,  yet  in  discouragement. 

Now,  if  a  man  has  been  brought  up  under  a  min- 
ister in  whose  teaching  fear  was  foremost,  and  love  and 
hope  were  secondary,  T  should  expect  that  all  his  life 
he  would  be  enveloped  in  doubts  and  forebodings. 
And  in  conference  and  prayer-meetings  you  will  hear 
persons  who  have  been  brought  up  under  such  minis- 
ters say;  "  My  brethren,  I  have  my  beliefs  and  hopes  ; 


ASSURANCE   OF   SALVATION.  229 

but  my  doubts  and  fears  are  more  tban  these."  And 
that  term  doubts  and  fears  has  almost  passed  into  the 
phraseology  of  Christian  life.  It  is  almost  thought 
that  no  religious  experience  is  complete  which  has  not 
doubts  and  fears.  A  person  that  does  not  talk  about 
doubts  and  fears  is  not  supposed  to  have  had  deep 
heart-work.  I  admit  that  there  is  an  experience  of 
doubt,  and  a  work  of  fear.  I  am  only  censuring  the 
idea  that  persons  must  have  them  in  order  to  be  true 
Christians. 

Then  there  are  views  presented  of  "  God  "  rather 
than  of  "  Christ,"  which  incline  men  to  apprehensive- 
ness  rather  than  trust.  If  God  be  represented  as  an 
administrator  of  government ;  if  he  be  represented  as 
a  governor  and  king  that  watches  his  law  with  jealous 
guardianship,  and  looks  upon  men  as  secondary  there- 
to, then,  although  there  may  not  be  much  work  of 
fear,  there  is  the  hiding  of  that  other  view  of  God 
from  which  confidence  springs.  It  is  the  glory  of 
God  shining  in  the  face  of  Christ  Jesus  that  enkindles 
in  the  regenerated  soul  the  hope  of  salvation.  For, 
although  confidence  may  come  from  constitutional 
hopefulness,  after  all,  that  which  is  to  be  an  anchor 
of  the  soul,  sure  and  steadfast,  must  spring  from  what 
God  is,  and  not  from  what  you  are. 

A  man  that  learns  to  measure  himself  by  the  law 
of  love,  and  then  looks  at  himself,  cannot  but  feel 
every  day  of  his  life  that  he  is  utterly  sinful  before 
God.  He  must  lay  his  hand  on  his  mouth,  and 
his  mouth  in  the  dust,  and  cry,  "  Unclean  !  unclean  ! 
God  be  merciful  to  me  a  sinner !  "  If  a  man  looks  at 
himself  all  the  time,  I  do  not  see  how  he  can  be  very 


230  LECTURE-ROOM   TALKS. 

hopeful  or  confident.  Confidence  comes  from  Christ ; 
and  where  a  man  looks  at  Christ,  I  do  not  see  how  he 
can  have  doubt  or  fear.  J'or  the  question  is  not 
whether  we  are  perfect  or  imperfect.  We  are  not 
saved  because  we  are  holy.  Christ  came  not,  it  is 
declared,  for  the  sake  of  the  righteous.  We  are  sin- 
ful in  Christ,  as  we  were  out  of  Christ.  We  are,  by- 
reason  of  the  imperfections  of  our  nature  and  the 
violent  temptations  which  are  brought  to  bear  upon 
us,  constantly  sinning  more  or  less.  And  there  is 
little  to  kindle  hope  in  a  man  if  it  depend  on  the 
relative  elevation  of  his  spiritual  nature. 

But  if  the  ground  of  our  hope  be  that  we  have  a 
/  God  whose  love  is  boundless,  if  we  have  some  direct 
I     insight  into  the  heart,  so  that  we  see  the  length  of  it, 
'     the  breadth  of  it,  the  height  of  it,  the  depth  of  it,  the 
majesty  of  it,  and  the  power  of  it ;  and  if  we  feel, 
(    "  Christ  loves  me,  and  his  love  is  enough  for  me,  and 
"S  it  is  this  love  of  Christ  that  leads  me  to  believe  that 
I  I  shall  be  saved,"  then  we  have  a  sufficient  ground 
for  hope.     Where  that  is  the  view   presented,  I  can 
see  how  a  man  may  understand  that  he  has  imper- 
fections and  sinfulnesses,  and  yet  have  faith  that  he 
shall  be  saved  in  spite  of  them,  because  Christ  is  so 
i  cleansing  in  the  power  of  his  love. 

I  might  go  on  to  show  that  the  intensifying  of  the 
penalties  of  the  law  of  God  has  an  injurious  effect 
upon  the  mind,  particularly  in  the  case  of  those  who 
have  imaginations  of  a  certain  kind,  —  material  ima- 
ginations, if  I  may  so  say  ;  for  it  seems  to  me  that 
imalginations  may  work  upward  toward  spiritual  ele- 
ments, or  downward  toward  material  elements.    I 


ASSURANCE   OF   SALVATION.  231 

have  seen  a  great  many  persons  whose  imaginations 
seized  hold  of  certain  texts,  or  truths  derivable  from 
texts,  and  became,  as  I  cannot  but  think,  morbid  upon 
them.  Take  persons  who  have  been  taught  that  they 
are  in  danger  of  grieving  the  Holy  Ghost.  That  is  a 
very  serious  and  solemn  truth  ;  but  it  may  be  preached 
so  that  a  person  who  has  not  much  of  the  faculty  of 
reason  shall  get  it  so  fixed  in  his  imagination  as  to 
revolve  around  about  that  one  thing  more  than  around 
the  whole  throne  and  being  of  God.  Eternity  and 
future  punishment  have  hitherto  been  represented  by 
material  symbols,  and  the  mind  may  be  so  affected 
by  these  symbols  that  it  shall  seem  impossible  to  de- 
tach one  from  them. 

I  remember  a  minister  that  came  to  our  house  when 
I  was  a  boy.  He  was  one  of  those  men  who  seemed 
to  think  that  religious  impressions  were  beneficial  just 
in  proportion  as  they  made  children  cry,  —  and  it  was 
as  easy  to  make  me  cry  as  to  make  a  tree  rain  after  a 
shower  by  shaking  it.  He  used  to  talk  with  us  chil- 
dren on  the  subject  of  religion,  and  he  told  me  some 
hobgoblin  stories  about  bad  boys.  And  0,  they  were 
the  naughtiest,  the  wickedest  boys  that  ever  lived  !  He 
told  me  how  a  bad  boy  got  sick,  how  he  saw  the  Devil 
coming  after  him,  and  how  he  cried,  "  0  mother, 
mother,  there  is  the  Devil!  There  he  is  as  far  as 
the  onion-bed  !  There  he  is  coming  through  the  gate ! 
There  he  is  inside  the  door  ! "  I  saw  forty  devils  in 
the  air.  I  dreamed  of  them.  I  did  not  shake  off 
the  feeling  of  terror  which  that  conversation  produced 
on  my  mind  for  years.  And  I  cannot  recall  that  I 
was  a  bit  better  for  it.     I  used  to  suffer  terribly  on 


& 


232  LECTUEE-ROOM   TALKS. 

account  of  it,  but  I  did  not  see  that  I  was  any  better 
able  to  resist  temptation.  I  did  not  put  forth  any 
greater  efforts  to  avoid  those  evils  that  are  incident 
to  boyhood.  I  was  just  as  likely  to  get  mad  and 
thrash  my  younger  brothers.  When  I  was  sent  to 
mill  with  instructions  to  come  right  home  again,  I 
was  just  as  likely  to  linger  by  the  way.  I  was  just 
as  likely  to  do  work  by  eye-service.  -  I  do  not  recollect 
that  frightening  me  by  telling  me  about  the  Devil  ever 
did  me  any  good,  though  it  caused  me  a  great  deal  of 
suffering. 

Now,  there  may  be  such  a  way  of  representing  the 
realm  of  malign  spirits  and  the  penal  sufferings  of 
the  other  world  as  shall  brace  up  the  conscience  ;  as 
shall,  acting  co-ordinately  with  hope  and  trust,  make 
a  much  more  powerful  moral  impression  than  either 
of  them  can  alone.  But  the  one-sided,  materialistic 
way  of  representing  these  things  often  gives  a  set  to 
the  imagination  which  will  torment  persons  all  their 
life  long.  And  I  do  not  see  how  such  persons  can 
have  an  assurance  of  hope  in  Christ  Jesus.  So  much 
for  men's  dependence  for  assurance  of  hope  on  the 
instructions  of  those  whose  influence  they  are  under. 

Besides  this,  the  disposition  has  very  much  to  do 
with  it.  There  are  persons  that  cannot  do  otherwise 
than  hope;  and  after  they  have  once  resolved  that 
they  will  live  a  Christian  life,  it  never  enters  their 
head  that  they  are  going  to  do  anything  else,  or  that 
there  can  be  but  one  result.  They  say  :  "  If  a  man 
comes  to  me,  I  will  not  cast  him  out ;  and  when  I  go 
to  Christ,  he  will  not  cast  me  out."  They  consider 
it  a  settled  thing.     It  may  be  presumptuous  some- 


ASSURANCE   OF   SALVATION  233 

times  ;  but  when  persons  are  soundly  converted,  it  is 
not.  Then  it  is  eminently  gospel-like.  A  man  says 
to  his  creditor :  "  I  owe  you  a  debt,  and  I  am  utterly 
imable  to  pay  it.  You  hold  my  note.  It  lies  against 
my  industry.  I  do  not  see  how  I  am  going  to  get 
along."  "  Well,"  says  the  creditor,  "  I  will  cancel 
that  debt "  ;  and  he  takes  the  note,  and  dashes  his  pen 
across  it,  and  hands  it  to  the  man.  And  you  can- 
not persuade  the  man  that  he  any  longer  owes  the 
debt.  He  knows  that  it  is  cancelled,  and  that  that  is 
the  end  of  it. 

Now,  a  man  says  :  "  I  owed  Christ  a  debt,  and  could 
not  pay  it ;  but  Christ  has  cancelled  it,  and  it  cannot 
stand  against  me  any  longer."  Then  he  acts  as  if  he 
really  believed  that  it  was  cancelled.  Is  not  that  sen- 
sible ?  Is  not  that  Christian  ?  Another  man  says  : 
"  I  should  like  to  do  just  so,  but  I  cannot.  I  do  not 
know  what  is  the  reason.  Sometimes,  when  I  go  to 
the  prayer-meetings,  and  sing  sweet  Christian  hymns, 
and  hear  the  brethren  pray,  I  get  lifted  into  this  joy- 
ful experience  ;  but,  I  do  not  know  why,  the  next 
morning  I  feel  worse  than  I  did  before."  There  are 
a  great  many  persons  who  are  of  a  vine-like  nature, 
and  who  depend  for  their  religious  support  on  the  in- 
fluences that  are  exerted  upon  them  by  stronger  Chris- 
tians. And  when  they  are  left  to  themselves,  they 
are  like  vines  that,  having  fallen,  are  trailing  on  the 
ground. 

Many  persons  do  not  know  how  to  feed  themselves 
spiritually.  When  food  is  presented  to  them  by 
others,  they  see  it,  and  are  nourished  by  it ;  but  the 
moment  others  cease  to  present  it  to  them,  they  cease 


234  LECTURE-ROOM  TALKS. 

to  perceive  it  and  to  be  benefited  by  it.  They  have 
not  the  power  to  minister  it  to  themselves.  They  are 
unable  without  help  to  gain  these  views  ;  and,  failing 
to  have  the  views,  they  fail  to  have  that  experience  of 
peace  which  is  the  result  of  them. 

There  are  persons  whose  conscience  is  morbidly  sen- 
sitive, and  is  a  stern,  relentless,  inexorable  critic.  I 
have  known  persons  who  were  all  the  time  before  the 
judgment-seat  of  their  own  moral  sense,  and  who  were 
so  busy  finding  fault  with  themselves  that  they  had 
not  much  time  to  think  about  the  Saviour.  I  have 
seen  persons  who  spent  so  much  time  looking  down- 
wards and  inwards  and  examining  their  motives,  that 
they  had  not  much  leisure  to  think  of  Christ,  and  his 
wonderful  provision  of  grace  for  sinners. 

Then,  a  great  deal  of  spiritual  darkness  and  doubt 
is  the  result  of  physical  causes.  I  know  persons  who 
in  health  are  always  confident,  and  who  when  they  are 
unwell  are  always  desponding.  Physical  conditions 
have  so  much  to  do  with  moral  states,  that  toothache, 
tic-douloureux,  and  ague  are  no  more  physical  effects 
than  these  states  are.  Persons  come  to  me  frequently, 
who,  I  know,  the  moment  I  look  at  them,  and  before 
they  open  their  mouths,  have  come  to  talk  on  the  sub- 
ject of  religion ;  and  I  know  on  which  side  it  will  be. 
The  stomach  and  liver  have  a  great  deal  to  do  witli 
moral  character.  And  where  there  is  action  in  the 
one,  and  all  is  right  in  the  other,  a  person  will  be  far 
less  apt  to  have  spiritual  troubles  than  where  they  are 
diseased  and  refuse  to  perform  their  functions. 

I  recollect  the  case  of  a  lady,  about  thirty  years  of 
age,  a  light  and  pattern  in  the  church  to  which  she 


ASSURANCE   OF   SALVATION.  235 

belonged,  wlio  had  labored  for  the  oncoming  of  re- 
ligion till  her  devotedness  was  a  theme  of  admiration 
among  the  brethren,  and  who,  just  as  the  w^ork  of 
grace  broke  out  with  triumphant  power,  was  seized 
with  evil  experiences.  The  Devil  would  not  let  her 
pray.  She  was  in  the  greatest  distress  of  mind  night 
and  day.  She  wanted  to  curse  God.  It  was  a  hor- 
rible struggle.  Word  was  sent  to  me,  and  I  went  to 
see  her.  I  questioned  her,  and  found  that  she  had 
been  laboring  out  of  all  measure,  and  had  overtaxed 
her  brain  and  nervous  system,  and  I  suspected  that 
from  reaction  the  chest,  the  heart,  the  circulation, 
everything  about  her,  was  affected.  And  the  more  I 
talked  to  her  the  more  I  was  satisfied,  first,  tliat  she 
was  a  Christian  ;  and,  secondly,  that  physical  reasons 
would  account  for  these  phenomena.  I  therefore, 
without  attempting  to  contradict  the  actuality  of  her 
experience,  —  for  that  would  have  destroyed  her  con- 
fidence in  me,  —  said  to  her :  "  Have  you  faith  enough 
in  my  judgment  to  take  my  prescription  ?  "  She  said 
she  had.  "  Will  you  follow  it?  "  She  said  she  would. 
"  Do  you  before  God  solemnly  pledge  yourself  to  do 
the  things  that  I  command  you  ? "  She  said  she 
would.  "  Then  I  command  you  not  to  go,  before  I 
give  you  permission,  to  another  meeting  ;  and  to  do  as 
much  physical  work  as  you  can  at  home."  I  gave  her 
minute  directions  about  her  rest  and  diet,  and  said, 
"  I  forbid  you  to  open  your  Bible,  or  speak  one  word 
of  prayer  till  I  give  you  permission."  She  shuddered. 
Said  I,  "  It  does  not  concern  yovi.  You  are  under 
my  care,  and  I  am  responsible  for  any  evil  conse- 
qiiences  that  may  result  from  your  obedience  to  my 


236  LECTURE-EOOM   TALKS. 

commands  ;  I  put  you  on  your  conscience."  I  knew 
that  conscience  was  a  strong  point  in  her  nature. 
She  was  to  walk  out  of  doors  every  day,  and  pay  par- 
ticular attention  to  her  diet,  and  take  charge  of  her 
household  affairs  regularly.  Provision  was  thus  made 
for  the  diversion  and  wholesome  occupation  of  her 
mind,  and  her  restoration  to  health.  I  heard  from 
her  every  day,  but  did  not  go  to  see  her.  In  about  a 
week  she  became  rested,  she  began  to  have  a  natural 
tone  of  system,  her  digestion  came  back,  she  slept 
regularly  again,  all  her  unfavorable  symptoms  disap- 
peared ;  and  at  last  she  sent  me  a  note  saying,  "  Come 
quick  !  I  shall  break  my  promise.  I  must  pray." 
"  Well,"  said  I,  "  pray,  then ! "  And  she  did  not  have 
any  more  trouble  with  the  Devil,  and  did  not  want  to 
curse  God  any  more.  The  moment  she  was  rested, 
all  those  terrors  that  afflicted  her  went  away  of  them- 
selves. The  simple  fact  of  her  being  in  health  of 
body  and  mind  saved  her  from  any  further  distress. 

There  are  a  great  many  persons  who  are  in  this 
or  a  similar  condition.  It  is  more  apt  to  be  wo- 
men than  men ;  for  the  nervous  system  of  woman 
is  subject  to  a  greater  amount  of  dilapidation  and 
weakness  and  strain  than  that  of  man.  Women  are 
less  robust  than  men.  They  are  more  shut  up.  More 
than  men,  who  knock  about  out  of  doors,  they  are 
placed  in  circumstances  where  persons  of  strong  and 
sensitive  natures  are  likely  to  be  carried  into  morbid 
excesses.  And  among  women  it  is  not  unusual  to  find 
cases  like  that  of  the  person  who  wrote  this  letter.  I 
refer  particularly  to  the  state  of  mind  which  is  indi- 
cated by  that  part  of  her  letter  where  she  says :  "  From 


ASSURANCE   OF   SALVATION.  237 

the  age  of  eight  years  the  life  to  come  has  been  upper- 
most in  my  mind,  and  to  be  fitted  for  that  life  the 
strongest  desire  of  my  heart."  There  I  find  this 
predominant  desire  to  be  fixed.  I  have  no  doubt 
whatever  about  it.  And  I  say  to  this  woman :  You 
have  been  under  the  influence  of  an  inordinate  preach- 
ing of  the  terror  of  the  law  of  God  ;  or  you  have 
not  listened  to  the  preaching  of  the  amplitude  of 
the  divine  mercy  and  love ;  or  else  you  are,  by  rea- 
son of  sickness,  in  a  morbid  state  of  mind.  For 
any  person  who,  with  a  consciousness  of  being  a 
sinner,  has  gone  to  Christ  and  reposed  trust  in  him, 
has  no  occasion,  in  circumstances  such  as  this  woman 
seems  to  be  in,  to  draw  back  a  moment  from  that  con- 
fidence which  we  are  permitted  to  have.  When  once 
we  trust  in  God,  he  takes  charge  of  our  souls,  that  we 
may  trust  him  to  the  end. 

Ah !  if  I  were  starting  from  Europe,  and  a  friend 
should  come  to  me  and  say,  "  My  only  child,  my 
daughter,  is  going  to  America,  and  she  is  all  alone  on 
the  ship  ;  will  you  take  charge  of  her  during  the  voy- 
age ?  "  I  should  be  sensibly  touched  by  his  confidence. 
And  aside  from  my  attachment  to  the  child  (if  I  had 
known  her  and  loved  her),  and  my  regard  for  her 
parents,  do  you  suppose  I  would  suffer  my  oversight 
of  her  to  intermit,  though  I  might  be  in  need  of  rest 
and  sleep,  and  though  I  might  be  sick  and  require 
attention  myself  ?  Would  I  not,  night  and  day,  carry 
that  charge  upon  my  mind,  to  see  that  her  wants  were 
all  supplied,  and  that  no  accident  befell  her  ?  And 
could  I  live  if,  by  any  fault  of  mine,  she  walked  too 
near  the  perilous  edge,  and  fell  overboard,  and  was 


238  LECTURE-ROOM   TALKS. 

whelmed  in  the  tide  and  lost?     How  could  I  ever 
look  my  friend  in  the  face  again  ? 

Now,  when  God  has  put  his  children  in  the  arms  of 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  that  he  may  carry  them  across 
this  perilous  voyage  of  life,  and  land  them  safe  in 
heaven  ;  and  when  Christ  has  promised  to  present 
them  pure  and  spotless  before  the  Throne,  do  you 
suppose  he,  under  whose  feet  is  all  power,  will  fail 
to  fulfil  his  promise,  and  to  perform  what  he  has  un- 
dertaken ?  If  there  were  nothing  but  ourselves,  we 
might  fear  ;  but  as  long  as  we  have  the  amphtude, 
the  fidelity,  the  tenderness,  and  the  love  of  Christ,  we 
have  that  which  is  more  than  a  match  for  our  sin. 
As  long  as  we  have  a  government  of  grace,  as  long  as 
we  have  the  provision  of  God's  providence,  as  long 
as  all  things  in  heaven  and  on  earth  are  for  the  salva- 
tion of  God's  people,  why  should  we  doubt  ?  Doubt 
yourself  as  much  as  you  have  a  mind  to  ;  but  do  not 
doubt  Christ. 

If  you  say,  "  I  do  not  know  why  he  should  save 
me ;  I  am  not  worthy  to  be  saved,"  —  that  is  a  fact,  you 
are  not.  If  you  say,  "  I  do  not  think  I  have  a  right 
to  look  to  him  for  salvation  ;  I  have  not  done  any- 
thing that  should  give  me  a  claim  on  him  for  so  great 
a  blessing,"  —  that  is  true,  you  have  not.  It  is  not 
because  you  deserve  divine  mercies  that  you  have  a 
right  to  expect  them. 

I  take  a  dozen  beggar-boys  out  of  the  street,  and 
they  say,  "  I  do  not  know  why  you  should  like  me ; 
I  am  unlovely,  and  there  is  nothing  attractive  about 
me."  That  is  so.  You  are  as  homely  as  sin ;  and  I 
take  you  that  you  may  become  lovely.     "  But  I  am 


ASSURANCE   OF   SALVATION.  239 

filthy  and  ragged."  Yes,  you  are ;  and  I  take  you 
that  you  may  be  washed  and  clothed.  "  But  I  am 
stupid  and  ignorant."  So  you  are  ;  and  I  take  you  to 
educate  you.  "  But  I  am  full  of  all  manner  of  wick- 
edness." I  know  that ;  and  it  is  because  you  are  so 
wicked  that  I  am  determined,  if  I  can,  to  rescue  you 
from  the  Devil.  I  take  you  because  you  are  such  un- 
mitigated urchins,  to  give  you  a  better  chance  in  the 
world. 

Now,  Christ  does  not  take  us  because  we  are  so  pure 
and  sweet  and  virtuous  and  lovely.  He  takes  us  be- 
cause he  cannot  bear  to  see  a  soul  that  is  destined  to 
immortality  less  than  high  and  noble  ;  and  because  he 
means  to  make  us  what  he  would  have  us  to  be,  he 
sends  us  to  school.  "  They  that  are  well,"  he  tells 
us,  "  need  not  a  physician ;  but  they  that  are  sick." 
If  you  are  sick,  and  will  accept  him  for  your  physi- 
cian, he  will  cure  you. 


240 


LECTURE-EOOM  TALKS. 


HEAVEN. 


HEN  the  Apostle  commands  us  to  set  our 
affections  on  things  above,  where  Christ  is, 
at  first  thought  it  seems  strange,  not  to  say 
\,    '  impossible.     If  there   is   anything  that  is 

visionary ,_  if  there  is  anything  that  seems  to  be  a 
mere  creature  of  the  imagination,  and  to  be  what  the 
imagination  may  make  of  it,  and  therefore  different 
in  different  persons'  experience,  it  is  heaven.  There 
is  no  place  assigned  to  it ;  and,  although  it  is  spoken 
of  under  material  figures,  there  is  no  materiality 
that  is  more  than  figurative,  if  I  may  so  say.  Those 
emblems  that  are  employed  to  designate  the  degree 
and  quality  of  feeling  are  little  more  than  that ;  and 
yet  there  is  no  fact  so  sure  as  that  the  whole  human 
race  are  both  qualified  for  using  and  desire  to  use 
the  imagination  away  from  real  things,  and  toward 
the  ideal.  Not  the  most  philosophical  alone,  but  the 
least  cultured  as  well,  manifest  this  tendency.  The 
whole  race  go  out  of  present  conditions  into  imaginary 
ones. 

When  we   are   commanded,  therefore,   to  set  our') 
affections  on  things  above,  we  are  not  commanded  to  ; 
exercise  a  new  power,  or  an  old  power  with  unusual  : 
difficulties.      "We   exercise   this   power  at  any  rate.  \^ 
Children  do  it.     The  very  savages  do  it.     And  the 
whole  history  of  the  race  shows  that  the  mind  needs 
to  go  out  of  itself  toward  something  different,  higher, 


HEAVEN.  241 

better,  more  perfect,  than  the  round  of  daily  imper- 
fect life  gives. 

Now  the  question  comes  up:  If  there  be  no  very 
definite  revelation  respecting  heaven,  its  nature,  and 
its  pursuits,  what  is  there  to  guide  us  in  our  concep- 
tions of  it  ?  how  shall  we  prevent  every  person's 
framing  a  heaven  to  suit  himself?  how  shall  we 
prevent  every  person's  populating  it  according  to  his 
own  will  and  fancy  ?  I  reply,  that  moral  qualities  ^ 
and  moral  characteristics  are  taught  unmistakably 
in  the  New  Testament ;  and,  so  that  you  do  not  fill 
heaven  with  selfish,  proud,  vain  experiences,  so  that 
true  Christian  virtues  are  the  animating  principles  of 
the  personages  that  you  put  there,  you  are  at  liberty 
to  frame  heaven  according  to  the  exigencies  of  your 
own  experience.  I  esteem  it  to  be  one  of  the  bless- 
ings of  revelation  that  it  does  not  make  known  to  us  a 
vast,  cold,  fixed,  immovable  heaven ;  that  it  presents 
to  us  a  heaven  which  draws  near  to  us  in  those  as- 
pects which  we  particularly  need.  If  we  are  over- 
tasked, heaven  comes  to  us  as  a  place  of  rest.  If  we  j 
are  impatient  of  our  narrow,  circumscril)ed  spheres 
j  of  labor,  heaven  comes  to  us  as  a  sphere  of  unbound- 

'X  ed  opportunity.     If  our  circumstances  are  such  that 
we  have  no  resources  for  pleasure,  heaven  comes  to 
us  as  a  land  of  true  delight.     If  we  are  tired  of  this    -^ 
world   as    the   abode   of    imperfect   human     nature, 
heaven  draws  near  and  presents  itself  to  us  as  the 

^home  of  just  men  made  perfect.     If  we  find  all  hu- , 
man  creatures  to  be  weak  and  fallible,  heaven  reveals 
to  us  God,  and  all  the  glory  of  the  Godhead.     What-  ^ 
ever  our  want  may  be,  whether  of  joy  or  sorrow  or 
11  p 


242  LECTURE-EOOJI  TALKS. 

hope  or  aspiration,  right  over  against  that  want 
heaven  bends  down,  and  is  easily  moulded  by  our 
imagination.  Heaven  is  made  "iip  of  divine  and 
glorious  qualities.  Those  that  are  there  come  to  us 
as  father  or  mother,  brother  or  sister,  or  friend,  some- 
times in  suffering,  sometimes  in  love,  sometimes  in 
meekness,  sometimes  in  courage,  sometimes  in  one 
mood,  and  sometimes  in  another.  Heaven  has  as  many 
moods  as  there  are  different  creatures  dwelling  in  it. 
To  make  heaven  merely  the  race-ground  of  our  ima- 

I  gination  would  be  but  little  else  than  to  make  us  the 

'  prey  of  endless  vagaries.  I  apprehend,  therefore,  that, 
when  we  are  commanded  to  set  our  affections  on  things 
above,  something  besides  this  is  meant.  It  is  not  the 
luxury  of  dreaming.  Still  less  is  it  the  abandonment 
of  the  disagreeable  duties  of  daily  life  to  take  refuge  in 
the  reveries  of  a  heavenly  contemplation. 

I  have  noticed,  when  watching  artists  at  their  work, 
that  they  are  sometimes  accustomed  to  put  colored 
pebble-stones  on  their  easel,  and  once  in  a  while  to 
take  them  up  and  look  at  them  ;  and  I  said,  "  What  is 
that  for  ?  "  They  said,  "  In  working  paints  into  tints, 
the  eye  gets  down,  and  it  is  necessary  to  have  some 

<  color  at  hand  to  tone  it  up  with,  in  order  to  be  able 

-i  to  distinguish  nice  shades." 

Now,  heaven  is  that  place  which  we  have  been  ac- 
customed to  regard  as  the  centre  of  all  that  is  perfect ; 
and  we  have,  day  by  day  and  month  by  month,  been 
remitting  there  our  ideal  conceptions  of  everything 
that  is  beautiful  and  true  and  honorable  and  noble 
and  loving  ;  and  we  have  gained  a  standard,  at  least, 
of  what  character  ought  to  be  ;  and  we  bring  that  down 


HEAVEN.  243 

to  tone  up  our  eye  with  in  this  world.     Every  day  we  ] 
are  among  people  that  are  highly  tcmptable,  that  are 
lax,  that  are  stumbling,  that  are  sometimes  hateful, 
and  that  are  but  just  lovely  at  the  best  of  times  ;  and 
we  become  worn,  weakened,  jaded,  and  depraved  by 
this  commerce  with  the  world.     We  want  to  lift  the  ^ 
mind  up,  so  that  we  may  get  a  conception  of  the  pos- 
sibilities of  being  and  character  higher  than  we  have 
found  in  this  world  ;  and  we  are  to  get  it  by  setting  i 
our  affections  on  things  above.  -^ 

Heaven  answers  with  us  the  same  purpose  that  the 
tuning-fork  does  with  the  musician.  Our  affections, 
the  whole  orchestra  of  them,  are  apt  to  get  below  the 
concert-pitch  ;  and  we  take  heaven  to  tune  our  hearts 
by.  In  this  way,  instead  of  making  the  heavenly  state 
a  romance-ground,  we  are  every  day  framing  it  by  the 
imagination,  and  ascribing  to  it  all  our  higher  and 
nobler  and  finer  ideals,  and  then  taking  this  state  and 
bringing  it  down  to  measure  our  daily  life  by.  And  , 
so,  instead  of  taking  us  away  from  the  duties  of  life,  it  I 
brings  us  back  to  them  with  renewed  strength,  with 
better  moral  discriminations,  with  more  patience,  more 
gentleness,  and  more  hope.  We  thus  set  our  affections 
on  heaven  without  taking  them  away  from  the  world.   -^ 

A  man  deposits  in  the  bank  a  thousand  dollars,  and 
draws  on  it,  and  keeps  depositing,  and  keeps  drawing. 
And  we  deposit  what  we  are  in  heaven,  and  then  draw 
on  that.  We  first  invest  our  whole  life,  and  then 
take  back  from  it  for  use  here,  and  then  lay  back 
what  we  take ;  and  thus,  repeatedly  using  it  on  earth, 
,  and  remitting  it  again  to  heaven,  we  maintain  a  kind 
of  heavenly  temper  while  performing  our  earthly  labor. 


244 


LECTUEE-KOOM   TALKS. 


CHURCH    PRIDE. 


URING  my  ministry  among  you,  I  have  been 
very  careful  of  one  thing,  and  that  is,  beget- 
ting, or  suffering  to  arise,  a  church  pride.  I 
have  never  hked  to  hear  brethren  speak 
about  Plymouth  Church  in  certain  ways.  I  have  felt, 
of  course,  an  affection  for  this  church  above  all  other 
outward  affection ;  but  I  have  not  had,  I  trust,  a  vain- 
glorying  in  it.  I  can  hardly  imagine  any  circumstance 
in  which  I  shall  cease  to  have  a  feeling  as  strong  as 
my  heart  is  capable  of  bearing  for  it.  But  I  perceive 
how  easy  it  is  for  us  to  be  tempted  into  vanity.  I 
perceive  how  easy  it  is  for  a  church  to  substitute  their 
own  selves  for  the  Saviour,  and  to  glorify  their  meet- 
ings, their  prosperity,  and  their  usefulness,  and  by  and 
by  to  begin  glossing  over  the  most  unmistakable  pride 
and  vanity  with  sacred  names.  There  can  scarcely  be 
any  affectation  and  insincerity  more  odious  than  that 
which  puts  a  veil  of  humility  over  things  essentially 
carnal  and  boastful.  I  can  imagine  a  case  where  a 
church  is  so  low  in  sensibility  that  you  are  obliged  to 
stimulate  it  to  activity  by  such  motives  as  pride  and 
1  self-respect ;  but  it  is  a  low  ground  to  stand  on,  and 
should  be  abandoned  as  quickly  as  possible.  And  in 
such  a  church  as  this,  I  think  it  is  inexcusable  ever  to 
stand  on  that  ground.  It  is  not  safe  ;  because  there  is 
in  your  history  a  sufficient  degree  of  various  kinds  of 
fruit  and  success  to  make  you  susceptible  to  vanity 


CHURCH  PRIDE.  245 

and  boastfulness,  and  a  comparison  of  yourselves  with 
others,  and  censoriousncss  arising  therefrom. 

The  deceit  of  vanity  is  more  rich  ;  there  is  more 
genius,  usually,  in  the  organ  of  vanity  tlian  in  almost 
any  other.  Its  developments  are  more  shrewd.  Its 
guises  are  more  skilful.  It  is  one  of  those  things 
which,  in  tlie  affairs  of  the  church,  should  be  put  as 
far  from  us  as  possible;  and  yet  there  is  a  certain 
line  of  truth  in  this  direction  which  ought  not  to  be 
lost  sight  of  as  bearing  upoin  our  church  character. 

It  would  be  affectation  for  any  of  us  to  attempt  to 
disguise  the  fact  that  Plymouth  Church  is  known 
throughout  Christendom.  Your  name  is  known 
in  the  country  of  the  Alps  as  well  as  in  our  own 
country.  It  is  known  throughout  the  Kingdom  of 
Great  Britain  as  well  as  throughout  the  State  of  New 
York.  The  question  is.  What  is  the  secret,  what  are 
the  sources,  of  influence  and  power  here  in  this 
church  ?  Tliere  have  been  various  theories  about  it. 
One  thinks  it  is  sensationalism.  Another  thinks  it  is 
a  fervent  domestic  affection.  Another  thinks  it  is 
something  else.  I  believe  the  secret  and  root  of  your 
history  lies  in  one  single  word,  and  that  is  Christ. 
Far  as  you  are  from  perfectness,  far  as  we  all  are  from 
representing  Christ  truly,  I  believe  that  in  the  services 
of  the  pulpit,  in  the  services  of  the  prayer-meetings, 
and  in  the  private  experience  of  home-religion,  to  an 
unusual  extent,  and  to  an  unusual  degree  of  depth, 
the  name  of  Christ  has  been  precious.  Nay,  the  heart 
of  Christ  has  been  powerful  among  us.  And  this  is 
what  I  should  be  glad  to  have  known  abroad,  namely, 
that  a  church  which  is  thronged,  and  a  church  whose 


246  LECTURE-ROOM   TALKS. 

name,  altliougli  it  is  of  comparatively  recent  establish- 
ment, is  almost  co-extensive  with  Christendom,  derives 
its  power  primarily  and  chiefly  from  the  living  presence 
of  Christ  in  its  midst. 

I  should  be  glad  to  have  known  everywhere,  what  is 
undoubtedly  the  truth,  that  you  have  not  built  upon 
foundations  of  wood,  hay,  and  stubble  ;  that  you  have 
not  resorted  for  success  to  the  ordinary  provocatives 
of  curiosity  ;  that  whatever  there  has  been  of  that  kind 
has  rather  followed  your  success  than  preceded  it  and 
been  the  cause  of  it.  I  think,  on  the  whole,  this 
society  has  been  singularly  free  from  any  of  those  ad- 
vertising agencies  by  which  a  church  might  seek  to 
draw  attention  to  itself,  whatever  there  may  have  been 
of  apparent  externality  arising  from  the  magnitude  of 
the  enterprise  ;  whereas  the  secret  influence  of  this 
church  I  believe  to  have  been  that  Christ  has  been  a 
reality  to  this  people,  —  that  there  has  been  a  faith  in 
him  which  has  led  to  a  higher  conception  of  life.  I 
believe  that  the  presence  of  Christ  among  us  has  been, 
to  an  unusual  degree,  a  provocation  to  a  higher  life. 
I  believe  that  the  brethren  of  this  church,  at  home  and 
in  business,  have  attempted,  in  an  unusual  degree,  to 
reproduce  in  themselves  the  disposition  and  life  of 
Christ.  It  has  been  your  strength  in  weakness,  your 
consolation  in  sorrow,  and  your  shield  in  temptation ; 
and  I  say  again,  what  I  really  believe,  that  it  is  the  power 
derived  from  that  name  which  has  made  you,  and  that 
you  can  say  like  the  Apostle,  changing  the  passage  by 
a  word,  "  By  the  grace  of  God  we  are  what  we  are." 

I  may  be  permitted  to  speak  so  far  of  myself  as  to 
say  that  in  my  judgment  this  is  the  whole  secret  of 


CHURCH   PRIDE.  247 

my  success  in  preaching  the  gospel.  I  do  not  under- 
rate the  gifts  of  judgment  and  experience  ;  but  it  seems 
to  me,  that,  if  I  might  be  permitted  to  pass  a  judgment 
upon  myself,  I  should  say,  that,  were  I  to  have  taken 
away  from  me  the  sense  of  living  by  faith  in  the  Son 
of  God,  and  the  feeling  that  all  I  have  been,  all  I  am, 
and  all  I  expect  to  be,  I  owe  to  the  love  of  Christ ;  if  I 
were  to  have  taken  away  from  me  the  sense  which  I 
have  of  immortality  in  Christ,  and  the  consciousness 
that  day  by  day  I  am  drawing  nearer  to  him,  that  I 
work  for  him,  that  I  hang  upon  him  with  all  my  heart, 
and  that  every  hope  I  have  culminates  in  him, —  if  1 
were  to  have  taken  away  from  me  tliat  sense,  I  believe 
all  other  things  in  me  would  collapse.  I  should  be 
like  Samson  shorn  of  his  hair,  and  powerless.  It  is 
from  Christ,  I  believe,  that  I  derive  my  strength  to 
labor  successfully  among  you. 

Now,  the  point  I  make  is,  that  it  is  desirable  not 
only  that  the  fact  should  exist,  but  that  the  impres- 
sion should  go  with  your  name,  and  that  persons  go- 
ing abroad  should  be  able  to  say,  "  We  have  visited 
this  great  church,  and  found  that  it  was  Christ  among 
them  the  hope  of  glory  that  made  them  what  they 
were."  That  testimony  would  strengthen  ten  thousand 
churches.  That  simple  conviction  breathed  into  the 
minds  of  men  would  encourage  the  faith  of  the  dis- 
heartened, and  would  work  mightily  in  every  direc- 
tion. And  I  should  be  glad  if  every  man  and  woman 
who  comes  here  from  distant  villages  and  cities  and 
towns  shoTild  go  back  and  report,  "  Whatever  else 
there  was,  I  found  a  heart  that  was  warm  toward 
Christ,   beating  back   love -beats,  throb   for  throb." 


248  LECTURE-ROO]\I   TALKS. 

That  testimony  itself  would  awaken  like  sympathies, 
like  hopes,  and  like  desires. 

This,  then,  is  the  central  thought,  it  seems  to  me, 
of  true  Christian  work,  the  fountain  from  which  every- 
thing else  must  flow.  Many  persons  say,  "  It  is  a 
church  that  is  preaching  all  sorts  of  things."  The 
question  is  not  how  many  branches  a  tree  has, 
but  what  is  its  root?  where  does  it  get  its  sap  and 
nourishment  ?  —  these  are  the  questions.  A  true 
love  of  Christ  should  work  out  in  infinite  ramifi- 
cations of  practical  morality.  The  question  which 
is  more  important  than  any  other  is.  Why  do  they 
work  in  that  direction  ?  You  are  a  temperance 
church,  —  what  makes  you  so  ?  You  have  always 
been  anti-slavery,  —  what  made  you  so  ?  It  is  desir- 
able that  the  public  should  understand  that  you  were, 
first,  Christ's  living  men ;  and,  next,  the  friends  of 
every  development  of  purification  in  the  community. 
For  Christ  is  the  source  and  fountain  of  all  that  is 
good  and  pure  in  this  world.  It  is  a  bad  moral  in- 
fluence that  any  church  has,  where  the  impression  is 
produced  that  they  hold  alone  to  externalities.  How- 
ever important  they  may  be  in  their  place,  they  are 
but  the  offshoots  of  the  deeper  life,  of  the  inner 
spirituality.  It  has  been  so  in  your  experience,  and 
it  is  very  desirable  that  it  should  be  known. 

When  that  is  known,  then  there  comes  a  reflex 
testimony  which,  in  its  turn,  is  scarcely  less  impor- 
tant than  the  other,  namely,  that  a  church  which  is 
truly  in  communion  with  God  manifests  that  inward 
spirituality  by  external  labors.  We  have  been  in 
danger,  and,  I  think,  are  still  in  danger  very  largely, 


CHURCH   PRIDE.  249 

of  contracting  church  life  to  a  mere  matter  of  senti- 
ment. Holy  hopes  and  aspirations,  prayers,  singing, 
—  in  other  words,  a  round  of  spiritual  enjoyments 
within  ourselves,  —  this  has  been  the  ideal  of  many ; 
and  they  have  been  afraid  to  let  anything  come  in  or 
go  out  but  this  strictly  spiritual  experience.  Now, 
when  the  impression  is  produced  that  you  are  deep 
in  the  life  of  Christ  and  spiritual  life,  it  becomes  very 
useful  to  have  it  known  that  this  life  works  itself  out 
in  ceaseless  labors,  and  that  these  labors  are  co-exten- 
sive with  the  want  of  humanity  ;  that  high  and  low, 
everywhere  and  always,  a  true  piety  seeks  to  embody 
itself  benevolently  in  the  community  in  which  you 
live. 

One  word  more.  As  soon  as  the  fountain  begins  to 
dry  up,  so  soon  the  influence  will  begin  to  wane. 
Just  as  long  as  the  altar-fire  burns  brightly,  there  are 
some  who  will  go  to  seek  its  light  and  warmth  ;  but 
when  the  name  of  Christ  begins  to  lose  power,  though 
for  a  little  time  there  will  be  an  influence  derived  from 
the  repute  of  the  past,  the  stream  will  begin  to  shrink 
and  diminish,  and  only  the  channel  will  remain. 

If  you  go  on  the  Campagna,  near  Rome,  you  shall 
see  huge  aqueducts  of  stone  which  for  ages  served  to 
supply  old  Rome  with  water.  Now  they  are  a  crum- 
bling heap  of  ruins.  Though  they  have  remained 
comparatively  intact  to  this  day,  there  is  not  a  drop  of 
water  there  except  what  the  rains  and  dews  deposit. 
They  bring  nothing  and  carry  nothing. 

I  have  seen  churches  that  were  like  these  aque- 
ducts. They  used  to  bear  waters  across  the  wide 
plains  to  the  great  and  populous  cities ;  but  now  they 
11* 


250  LECTURE-ROOM  TALKS. 

are  broken  down,  and  only  channels  remain,  and  they 
are  old  and  useless  memorials  of  the  past.  As  soon 
as  a  church  ceases  to  be  a  great  channel  through 
which  Christ  pours  his  influence  into  the  world,  it  has 
lost  its  function.  It  is  a  byword,  a  matter  of  curi- 
osity, a  thing  of  the  past,  utterly  dead. 

We  need  not  trouble  ourselves  with  the  future  if 
Christ  abides  with  us  ;  and  nothing  can  save  us  if  he 
does  not. 


A  HIGH   CHRISTIAN  STATE.  251 


A    HIGH    CHRISTIAN    STATE. 


||HE  popular  ideal  of  a  high  Christian  state 
is  ill  some  respects  remarkably  correct,  and 
remarkably  consonant  with  the  Scriptural 
teaching.  The  Apostle  commands  us  to  be 
fervent  in  spirit,  —  glowing,  burning,  shining ;  and 
there  is  no  question  that  this  is  the  type  of  religious 
fooling  which  is  set  forth  in  the  New  Testament. 
That  state  which  men  call  the  blessing  in  the  Methodist 
Church ;  that  state  which  is  called  the  glory,  or  the 
coming  in  of  the  glory,  by  the  same  class  of  people  ;  or 
that  state  of  great  joy  which  people  aspire  to,  —  this 
constitutes  the  popular  conception  of  the  highest 
Christian  experience.  When  the  Bible  speaks  of  fer- 
vency and  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost  as  being  the  fruit  of 
the  spirit,  the  popular  apprehension  runs  in  the  same 
direction  ;  so  that  it  is  a  very  common  thing  for 
people  to  say  that  they  have  a  great  deal  of  religion 
when  they  have  a  great  deal  of  joy,  and  to  say  that 
they  have  lost  their  religion  when  they  lack  joy,  —  as 
if  it  was  a  garment  that  they  could  put  on  or  off,  in- 
stead of  being  in  the  nature  of  character. 

Now  there  can  be  no  question,  that,  under  another 
name,  or  in  another  way  of  looking  at  it,  the  highest 
type  of  Christian  life  is  this  type  of  spontaneous,  invol- 
untary activity  of  the  moral  affections,  of  the  under- 
standing, and  of  the  life.  The  inference  that  men 
draw  is  very  erroneous,  namely,  that  when  they  have 


252  LECTURE-ROOM   TALKS. 

not  this  high  feeling,  it  is  of  no  use  for  them  to  try  to 
do  anything.  They  ought  to  have  the  high  feeling ; 
but  the  question  arises,  Suppose  we  have  not  got  it, 
then  what  ?  Are  we  to  lie  still  till  we  get  it  and  then 
act  as  Christians,  or  are  we  to  act  as  Christians  with- 
out it  ?     It  is  a  very  important  question. 

In  the  first  place,  we  ought  to  strive  to  act  habitu- 
ally in  our  religious  life  from  a  character  and  a  condi- 
tion so  high  that  religious  exercises  and  duties  shall 
be  spontaneous  and  involuntary.  This  is  the  type 
that  we  should  seek.  In  order  to  that,  however,  sev- 
eral things  are  necessary. 

First,  it  must  be  relative  to  each  man's  own  tem- 
perament. Brother  Corning  used  to  be  one  of  our 
burning  and  shining  lights,  and  you  who  were  here 
when  he  was  alive  remember  what  a  glowing  experi- 
ence he  used  to  have.  Brother  Burgess  was  another 
extreme.  Brother  Burgess  was  as  good  a  Christian  as 
Brother  Corning,  and  as  useful ;  but  he  never  went 
mto  transcendent  states.  He  was  always  quiet. 
Brother  Corning  rose  to  great  heights  of  exaltation. 
Both  of  them,  however,  lived  in  that  state  in  which 
the  experience  and  utterance  of  Christian  emotion 
were  almost  involuntary  and  spontaneous.  A  man 
who  has  naturally  a  small  measure  of  excitability  is 
not  to  hold  himself  to  account  for  overflowing  feel- 
ing, as  a  man  does  who  by  nature  has  a  large  meas- 
ure of  excitability.  Religious  feeling  is  to  be  relative 
to  what  a  man  is  when  he  starts  in  life.  Accord- 
ing to  that  which  God  gave  him,  every  man  must 
judge  of  the  spontaneity  of  his  own  Christian  feeling. 

Second,  I  think  that  none  can  ever  follow  a  narrow 


A   HIGH   CHRISTIAN   STATE.  253 

conception  of  religion,  and  then  be  in  a  liigli,  over- 
flowing state.  Unless  you  make  your  religious  life  to 
be  so  comprehensive  that  it  touches  every  faculty  in 
your  being  ;  if  it  is  simply  avoiding  wrong,  and  then 
laboring  for  the  conversion  of  men  ;  if  it  is  simply  ab- 
stinence from  evil,  and  then  soliciting  men  to  turn 
from  sin  and  come  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  —  you 
will  find,  very  soon,  days  in  which  you  are  exceedingly 
weak  of  impulse  to  perform  such  duties.  There  will 
be  many  days  in  which  you  will  not  experience  strong 
feeling.  If  such  is  your  sole  idea  of  religion,  there 
will  be  two  blanks  to  every  day  of  positive  feeling  that 
you  will  have. 

A  man's  life  as  a  Christian  ought  to  be  like  a  far- 
mer's life.  It  is  raining  to-day ;  and  the  old  farmer 
says,  "  Well,  what  of  that  ?  I  meant  to  get  in  my 
hay  to-day,  but  there  is  something  els6  that  I  can 
do.  There  is  that  old  hay  to  be  moved  into  the  old 
barn  ;  and  there  is  that  door  to  be  hung  on  new  hinges. 
I  have  been  waiting  for  a  rainy  day  to  repair  this 
machine.  There  is  the  big  wagon  to  be  fixed.  Be- 
sides, I  must  mend  that  harness."  There  is  enough 
work  for  five  wet  days ;  and  is  he  not  working  on  the 
farm  as  much  while  doing  these  things  as  though  he 
were  getting  in  his  hay  ?  In  the  spring,  he  ploughs  and 
sows.  "When  July  and  August  come,  he  mows,  and 
reaps,  and  garners.  When  it  is  winter,  he  does 
neither;  and  yet  the  labor  of  whiter  is  husbandry. 
There  are  parts  of  the  year's  work  to  be  done  in  Janu- 
ary, as  well  as  in  June.  He  has  a  wide  range  of 
occupation  ;  but,  although  his  work  varies  from  day  to 
day,  and  from  season  to  season,  it  is  all  husbandry. 


254  LECTURE-ROOM   TALKS. 

Now,  a  Christian  ought  to  live  on  so  broad  a  scale 
of  experience  that  if  to-day  he  does  not  feel  like  acting 
in  one  direction,  he  will  in  another.  To-day  it  may 
be  your  duty  to  teach.  It  may  be  your  duty  to-mor- 
row to  receive  instruction.  It  is  Christian  life  to-day 
filled  with  fervency  of  prayer.  To-morrow  it  may  not 
be  feeling  of  this  type ;  it  may  be  benevolence,  that 
produces  sympathy  for  others  in  trouble.  The  next 
day  it  may  be  some  other  Christian  disposition  that 
will  open  up  in  you.  It  may  be  the  restraint  of  self- 
ishness. It  may  be  doing  a  generous  deed  in  this  or 
that  relation  of  life.  There  are  a  thousand  things 
that  go  to  constitute  you  an  agreeable,  kind,  loving, 
and  loved  Christian, —  one  whose  light,  shining  before 
men,  is  such  that  they  want  it,  and  seek  to  kindle  their 
lamps  at  the  same  altar  where  you  kindled  yours.  In 
that  way  a  man  can  live  so  that  his  life  will  be  spon- 
taneous all  the  time. 

But  you  cannot  live  on  one  or  two  strains  of  ex- 
perience, and  have  them  all  the  time  spontaneous. 
You  must  have  variety  that  shall  bring  different  parts 
of  the  mind  up,  and  all  of  them.  On  you  devolve 
duties  that  must  be  performed.  You  do  not  want 
to  perform  them.  Now,  what?  If  you  only  had 
the  mood,  you  say  you  could  do  it.  But  ah !  the  mood 
is  not  there.  Now,  what  ?  Must  you  wait  for  it  ?  It 
depends  much  on  what  you  have  to  do.  If  a  man 
wants  to  write  a  piece  of  poetry,  I  do  not  think  it  will 
do  any  good  for  him  to  undertake  to  write  till  the 
mood  comes  ;  but  if  a  man  has  to  preach  a  sermon, 
Sunday  does  not  wait  for  his  moods.  I  have  found 
that  out  during  the  last  thirty  or  forty  years.     I  have 


A   HIGH   CHRISTIAN   STATE.  255 

to  preacli  whether  I  feel  like  it  or  not.  And  I  find 
that  the  knowledge  of  the  fact  that  I  must  preach 
whether  I  want  to  or  not,  or  whether  I  like  it  or  not,  has 
^a  wonderful  influence  on  me.  I  know  that  when  Sun- 
day comes  I  have  got  to  preach  (for  I  do  not  exchange 
pulpits,  and  I  never  ask  anybody  to  preach  for  me),  and 
what  is  the  consequence  ?  My  whole  system  has  con- 
formed itself  to  the  necessities  of  the  case.  Everything 
about  me,  from  my  head  to  my  feet,  knows  that  when 
Sunday  comes  there  is  that  work  to  be  done.  I  almost 
feel  before  I  know  it  that  it  is  Sunday.  My  whole 
mental  economy  has  trained  itself  so  that  ninety-nine 
times  in  a  hundred  I  want  to  preach  when  I  ought  to. 

The  same  to  a  considerable  extent  may  be  said  in  re- 
gard to  duties  of  an  executive  character,  —  duties  not 
of  the  higher  order  of  artistic  duties.  You  may  not 
feel  inclined  to  them,  yet  conscience,  instead  of  a 
mood,  will  not  only  put  you  through  the  duties,  but 
will  after  a  while  make  your  very  nature  respond  to 
the  necessity  ;  so  that,  though  at  first  you  do  not  feel 
like  performing  them,  though  in  the  beginning  they 
are  laborious  and  disagreeable,  afterward  you  will 
hardly  think  about  that  part.  A  well-bred,  thor- 
oughly trained  Christian  addresses  himself  to  duties 
that  he  does  not  feel  an  appetite  for ;  and  frequently 
in  performing  them  his  dislike  for  them  disappears. 

Do  you  ask  me  whether  this  condition,  in  which 
one  performs  duties  as  a  matter  of  necessity  at  first, 
and  then  comes  to  do  them  without  reluctance,  is  the 
highest  condition  ?  No,  it  is  not  the  highest ;  but 
that  impelling  power  which  is  second-best  is  a  great 
deal  better  than  none  at  all. 


256  LECTURE-ROOM   TALKS. 

Suppose  you  have  no  conscience  about  doing  your 
duty,  but  you  say  to  yourself,  "  I  am  a  member  of 
the  church,  and  I  must  live  a  consistent  life.  There 
are  many  people  looking  at  me,  and  if  I  stayed  at 
home  on  Sunday  they  would  know  it,  and  talk  about 
it ;  so  I  guess  I  had  better  go  to  meeting,  though  I  do 
not  want  to,  and  would  not  if  I  could  do  as  I  wanted 
to."  Well,  you  are  a  mean  fellow,  but  you  had  bet- 
ter do  your  duty  even  from  such  a  poor  motive,  if  you 
cannot  act  from  an  appetite  of  duty,  —  from  a  gen- 
erous, glowing  desire  of  doing  that  which  you  ought 
to  do,  —  from  a  sense  of  right  and  wrong.  If  the 
motive  is  fear  of  men,  if  it  is  love  of  consistency,  if  it 
is  a  motive  of  necessity,  it  is  a  thousand  times  better 
that  you  should  do  your  duty  from  such  considera- 
tions than  that  you  should  not  do  it  at  all.  It  is 
better  that  you  should  do  it  from  a  generous  ardor 
and  enthusiasm  than  that  you  should  do  it  from  some 
lower  feeling  ;  but  it  is  better  that  you  should  do  it 
even  from  that,  than  that  you  should  fail  to  do  it  al- 
together. 

Why,  a  man  should  fly  like  an  eagle  toward  the 
kingdom  of  God  ;  but  if  he  cannot  fly,  let  him  walk ; 
and  if  he  cannot  walk,  let  him  crawl.  Let  him  go 
in  the  poorest  way  rather  than  not  go  at  all.  You 
can  go  down  along  the  scale  of  doing  right  and  be- 
ing right ;  and  there  is  no  excuse  for  any  man  not  to 
do  right  and  to  be  right.  It  is  a  mere  question  of 
gradation.  It  is  a  question  as  to  doing  it  from  the 
lowest,  the  intermediate,  or  the  highest  motive.  The 
highest  is  the  best;  but  we  should  always  do  right 
from  some  motive  or  other. 


A   HIGH   CHRISTIAN   STATE.  257 

A  great  many  persons,  I  think,  in  a  Christian  life, 
err  from  want  of  variety,  from  want  of  versatility. 
There  are  many  things  that  you  can  do,  if,  when  you 
do  not  incline  to  take  one  side,  one  style,  one  range  of 
Christian  experience,  you  take  another  and  act  in  ac- 
cordance with  that.  Seek  to  live  with  diverse  ex- 
periences. Have  a  broader  conception  of  Christian 
life  than  consists  in  merely  saying  prayers,  singing 
hymns,  and  talking  to  men  about  their  souls.  These 
are  an  important  part  of  Christian  duty  frequently  ; 
but,  ah  !  there  are  a  thousand  other  things  that  are 
essential.  There  is  the  beauty  of  holiness  as  well  as 
the  power  of  holiness.  There  is  the  soothing  duty 
as  well  as  the  rousing  duty.  There  is  instruction  as 
well  as  exhortation.  There  is  preparation  for  future 
duty  as  well  as  the  execution  of  present  duty.  Tiiese 
are  all  parts  of  one  Christian  character.  There  are 
not  only  two  strings  to  your  bow,  but  thirty  in  the 
Christian  life ;  and  a  man  should  live  so  broadly  that 
every  day  he  should  find  something  to  do  which  he 
wants  to  do,  and  which  he  does  with  appetite.  Then 
other  duties  which  are  regular,  which  press  them- 
selves upon  him,  and  which  he  has  no  appetite  for, 
let  him  do  because  they  are  duties.  And  if  he  cannot 
do  even  that,  and  they  are  urgent  duties,  let  him  do 
them,  whatever  the  motive  may  be.  So  lie  will  rise 
higher  and  higher  toward  the  true  Christian  plane, 
which  is  the  plane  of  spontaneity,  of  involuntary 
activity,  of  being  and  doing  from  the  love  of  that 
which  is  essentially  true,  and  beautiful,  and  pure,  and 
right  and  good. 

Q 


258  LECTURE-ROOM  TALKS. 


COMMERCIAL    HONOR. 


LETTER  of  inquiry  has  come  to  me  from  a 
gentleman  in  Boston.  It  seems  a  long  way 
to  send  to  find  out  one's  duty.  After  some 
preliminary  remarks,  he  says  :  — 

"  To  be  brief,  my  case  is  this  :  Six  years  ago,  I  failed  in  business. 
At  that  time  I  could  have  paid  my  bills  in  full,  but,  fearful  that  my 
family  would  suffer,  I  compromised  with  a  part  of  my  creditors  by 
paying  fifty  per  cent.  The  other  portion  remained  unpaid.  At 
that  time  I  made  my  house  over  to  my  Avife,  and  she  has  it  now  in 
her  possession.  What  I  would  like  to  know  is,  if  I  have  a  moral 
right  to  use  her  property  to  pay  my  bills.  Or,  in  other  words,  is 
it  my  duty,  as  the  case  stands,  to  have  the  house  sold,  and  make  a 
full  settlement  with  my  creditors  ? 

"  I  hardly  dare  to  trouble  you  with  such  a  matter ;  and  had  it 
been  in  any  other  cause  than  that  of  Christ,  in  which  I  knew  you 
to  be  so  deeply  interested,  I  should  not  have  written." 

He  began  the  letter  by  saying :  — 

"  Having  had  a  strong  desire  to  become  a  Christian  for  some 
time,  and  having  stumbling-blocks  in  the  way,  I  would  like  to  pre- 
sent my  case  to  you,  provided  you  are  willing  to  answer  my  ques- 
tions." 

I  do  not  propose  to  spend  the  whole  evening  in  dis- 
cussing this  case  of  ethics ;  but  I  shall  make  a  few 
remarks  with  special  reference  to  this  case,  and  then 
consider  the  whole  field  in  which  all  such  cases  stand. 

In  the  first  place,  I  think  that  man  is  in  a  gospel  ex- 
ercise. I  think  it  is  a  genuine  case  of  awakening.  It 
is  a  case  that  is  fit  for  modern  times.     It  is  not  a  case 


COMMERCIAL   HONOR.  259 

of  metaphysical  trouble.  It  is  not  a  case  of  morbid 
feeling.  It  is  a  case  that  springs  up  in  the  man's  life. 
And  one  of  the  signs  of  promise  is,  that  his  conscience 
lias  become  so  sensitive  that  he  cannot  feel  quite  con- 
tented to  abide  to-day  in  that  which  six  years  ago 
satisfied  him. 

In  the  next  place,  I  would  say,  in  regard  to  this 
particular  case,  that  he  may  be  right  or  he  may  be 
wrong.  An  agreement  between  him  and  his  creditors, 
if  it  is  equitable  and  Christian,  is  so,  not  merely  by  the 
fact  that  it  is  an  agreement,  but  by  the  whole  spirit 
and  temper  with  which  it  was  executed.  He  may 
have  put  them  into  such  circumstances  that  they  were 
driven  to  this,  and  did  it  unwillingly,  perhaps  with  the 
feeling  that  there  was  some  unequity  in  it ;  or  tliey 
may  have  considered  his  whole  case,  and  heartily 
agreed  to  it.  The  whole  thing  would  be  sound  or 
unsound  very  much  according  to  those  minute  shades 
that  go  to  make  equity,  justice,  rectitude. 

However,  I  think  that  the  presumption  of  duty  al- 
ways is  in  favor  of  doing  more  than  a  man  is  inclined 
to  do  in  such  matters  as  this.  No  one  thing  can  be 
more  unfortunate  for  a  man  who  is  beginning  to  live 
publicly  as  a  Christian  than  to  have  attached  to  liim 
the  impression  that  he  has  winked  at  injustice  and  self- 
ishness, and  that  he  has  now  entered  upon  a  Christian 
course,  as  it  were  to  cloak  his  wickedness,  and  to  get 
release  in  his  own  feelings  from  trouble  concerning  it. 
There  is  nothing  in  the  world  that  a  man  who  is  be- 
ginning a  Christian  life  wants  more  than  to  give 
evidence  to  the  world  tliat  his  righteousness  exceeds 
the  righteousness  of  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees.      It 


260  LECTURE-ROOM  TALKS. 

must  more  than  equal  that,  and  certahilj  cannot 
afford  to  lag  behind  it.  I  should  say  to  a  man  in 
these  circumstances,  "  Look  you  !  Call  to  mind  cases 
that  you  have  known.  There  have  been  men  who 
have  made  settlements  before,  and  gone  out  of  their 
houses  into  poverty  and  actual  suffering,  and  borne  a 
witness  for  Christ  which  was  perhaps  the  most  im- 
pressive and  convincing  that  it  was  in  their  power  to 
bear.  And  consider  whether  it  is  best  for  you,  merely 
for  the  sake  of  the  comfort  of  yourself  and  your  family,  - 
to  make  a  good  and  snug  arrangement,  or  whether 
there  is  not  an  opportunity  for  you  to  do  a  thing  that 
is  more  significant  than  almost  anything  else  that  you 
ever  did  in  your  life." 

Now  look  at  this  case.  It  is,  very  likely,  all  right. 
I  know  nothing  about  the  facts,  and  have  to  exercise 
my  imagination  respecting  them.  Let  us  suppose 
that  this  man,  on  making  a  compromise  with  his 
creditors,  and  getting  released  from  his  obligations, 
turns  over  his  house  to  his  wife,  as  much  as  to  say, 
"  I  will  put  a  screw  on  that  so  that  no  debt  shall  ever 
take  it  out  of  my  hands."  He  loves  his  wife  and 
children,  and  he  says,  "  I  will  keep  them  in  comfort- 
able circumstances,  and  will  keep  my  children  at 
school,  and  will  keep  my  family  well  clad."  That  is 
amiable.  And  he  says,  "  I  am  determined  to  put 
forth  my  best  efforts,  and  work  night  and  day,  and 
pay  off  the  other  half  of  my  debts  as  quick  as  I  can." 
That  sounds  very  well,  and  he  means  what  he  says ; 
but  it  is  not  quite  as  it  should  be.  We  are  apt  to  put 
off  present  duty  to  be  performed  by  and  by.  All  men 
mean  to  do  right  next  year.     It  would    be  a   very 


COMMERCIAL  HONOR.  261 

■wicked  man  that  did  not  mean  to  do  right  next  year. 
The  pecuhar  trouble  about  doing  right  is  the  neglect- 
ing to  do  it  now. 

But  we  will  suppose  that  in  this  case  the  man  is  all 
right.  And,  this  being  the  state  of  facts,  his  con- 
science leads  him  to  a  further  development  of  Chris- 
tian life  and  testimony  ;  so  he  goes  into  the  church. 
And  now,  as  a  member  of  the  church,  we  will  sup- 
pose that  he  goes  to  prayer-meeting  —  for  members  of 
the  church  often  do  !  —  and  that  he  speaks.  He  is 
called  upon  to  take  part  in  prayer,  in  conversation,  in 
the  various  exercises  of  the  meeting.  A  revival  comes 
on,  and  he  is  called  upon  to  go  out  and  work  for 
Christ's  cause.  And  what  will  inevitably  be  the  case, 
but  that  the  very  spot  where  he  is  weak  will  contin- 
ually be  the  spot  where  he  will  want  to  give  instruc- 
tion and  exhortation  ?  And  he  will  feel,  "  I  cannot 
say  to  young  men,  'Avoid  dishonest  courses,'  lest  they 
should  turn  round  and  say  to  me,  '  Why  do  you  not 
pay  your  debts  ? '  "  He  cannot  put  in  certain  strains 
of  prayer,  for  fear  that  everybody  will  be  thinking, 
"  Physician,  heal  thyself."  And  he  will  go  on  ham- 
pered in  his  usefulness  all  the  time.  A  shadow  of  that 
delinquency,  the  thought  that  he  has  compromised 
his  debt  at  one  half,  and  that  yet  he  is  living  in  a 
good  house,  and  carrying  his  children  along  in  their 
education,  and  making  his  family  comfortable,  will 
weigh  upon  him,  and  he  will  feel  as  though  people 
were  talking  about  him,  and  as  though  they  had  a 
right  to,  and  he  will  not  be  very  happy  about  it.  And 
the  probability  is  that,  though  technically  he  may  be  in 
the  way  of  riglit,  yet  there  will  be  a  stumbling-block, 


262  LECTURE-ROOM   TALKS. 

a  difficulty,  besetting  his  whole  Christian  life,  which 
will  be  the  means  of  keeping  him  down. 

Let  us  now  try  the  opposite  course.  Suppose  a 
man  should  gather  his  wife  and  children  about  the 
fireside,  and  should  say  to  them,  "  I  have  called  you 
together  because  the  burden  of  the  Lord  is  on  my 
conscience.  I  have  been  living  a  worldly  life  ;  I  must 
be  a  Christian,  and  I  do  not  feel  that  I  can  follow 
Christ  without  taking  up  my  cross.  Now,  are  you 
willing  to  go  down,  in  order  that  I  may  bear  a  testi- 
mony to  the  sincerity  of  my  love  to  God  and  man  ?  My 
dear,  can  you  wear  less,  and  live  in  less  comely  and  less 
comfortable  quarters  with  me  ? "  she  is  no  woman,  she 
is  no  Christian  woman,  she  is  not  a  true  wife  nor  mother, 
if  she  does  not  jump  at  the  chance,  and  say, "  You  are 
right,  husband,  and  I  shall  go  wherever  you  go." 

And  suppose  he  says  to  his  children,  "  You  will 
have  to  take  up  your  part  of  the  cross,  you  will  have 
to  work  more  than  you  have  done,  you  will  find  that 
your  companions  surpass  you  in  opportunities  and 
privileges  ;  but,  my  dear  children,  can  you  submit  to 
so  much  for  the  sake  of  enabling  me  to  acquit  myself, 
not  only  in  the  sight  of  God,  but  in  the  sight  of 
men."  Consider  what  an  impression  it  will  make  on 
those  children.  They  might  go  to  Egypt,  and  see 
the  Pyramids,  and  shake  before  them  with  venera- 
tion ;  they  might  go  to  Jerusalem,  and  stand  in  the 
presence  of  things  sacred  and  awe-inspiring  in  that  an- 
cient city  ;  they  might  behold  the  wondrous  treasures 
of  Italy  and  Greece ;  they  might  visit  all  those  places 
in  Europe  which  are  renowned  in  history,  —  and  it  is 
not  probable  that  these  various  scenes  put  together 


COMMERCIAL  HONOR.  263 

would  produce  upon  them  such  a  profound  impression 
as  to  have  their  father  and  mother  sit  in  counsel  with 
them  on  this  question,  and  to  have  the  father  say  to 
the  mother  and  to  them, "  Are  you  willing  to  take  this 
most  practical  and  personal  step  with  me,  for  the  sake 
of  bearing  a  witness  for  Christ  and  religion  ? "  I  know 
just  how  I  should  have  felt,  if  my  father  had  made 
such  an  appeal  to  his  family.  I  should  have  rejoiced 
at  the  opportunity  of  complying  with  a  request  of 
that  kind  coming  from  him.  I  would  willingly  have 
eaten  bread  and  water  for  a  year,  if  I  could  only  have 
had  the  satisfaction  of  knowing  that  I  was  aiding  in 
some  moral  work.  I  recollect  that  when  I  was  a  boy 
I  had  a  conscience  that  wanted  some  exponent.  I 
wanted  to  do  or  forbear  in  some  way.  There  were 
many  things  that  I  might  have  done  or  forborne,  that 
did  not  then  present  themselves  to  me  as  duties  ;  but 
the  appetite  was  there.  And  if  my  father  had  said  to 
me,  "  I  am  poor,  and  it  is  necessary  that  we  should 
practise  the  most  rigid  economy ;  and  are  you  will- 
ing, for  my  sake  and  that  of  the  family,  to  forego 
such  and  such  things  ?  "  —  no  pilgrim  ever  girded 
on  his  sackcloth,  and  took  his  staff,  and  bore  the 
severity  of  cold  or  the  weariness  of  travel  to  visit  a 
sacred  shrine,  no  anchorite  ever  performed  penances, 
with  half  the  alacrity  that  I  would  have  practised  the 
utmost  self-denial.  And  I  tell  you,  the  simple  fact 
that  a  whole  family  have  given  their  consent  and  co- 
operation to  a  step  of  this  sort,  and  that  they  are 
willing  to  leave  the  fine  house  in  which  they  have 
been  living,  and  weaV  poorer  clothes,  and  go  down  in 
society,  has  a  wonderful  power  in  it. 


2G4  LECTURE-ROOM   TALKS. 

"Well,  the  man,  after  he  has  broached  the  matter  to 
his  wife  and  children,  and  received  assurance  of  their 
sympathy  and  support,  goes  to  his  creditors.  He  en- 
ters the  office  of  one  of  them,  and  says,  "  I  am  going 
to  join  the  church."  "  Ah  !  "  says  the  creditor,  "  I 
am  glad  to  hear  it."  "  And  I  came  to  say  to  you, 
sir,  —  "  The  creditor  is  not  a  Christian  ;  and  sup- 
posing that  the  man  is  seeking  light  on  spiritual 
topics,  he  says,  "  You  had  better  go  to  your  minister. 
I  do  not  feel  that  I  am  in  a  situation  to  give  you  any 
advice  in  this  matter."  "  You  do  not  understand 
me,  sir,"  says  the  man.  "  I  came  to  say  that  I  feel 
that  I  ought  to  live  a  Christian  life,  and  that  I  ought 
to  profess  Christ ;  and  I  cannot  feel  satisfied  without 
doing  my  duty,  I  made  a  settlement  with  you  and 
such  and  such  gentlemen  with  which  I  do  not  feel 
satisfied,  and  I  should  like  to  see  you  all  together. 
If  you  would  ask  them  to  meet  me,  I  should  esteem 
it  a  favor."  "  Certainly,  certainly,"  is  the  reply  ;  "  I 
will  bring  them  right  in."  When  a  proposition  comes 
from  a  debtor  to  meet  his  creditors,  they  respond  very 
quickly,  and  in  half  an  hour  they  are  all  in. 

The  man  is  very  modest,  and  he  says  to  them, 
"  Gentlemen,  I  wanted  to  see  you,  and  to  say  that 
I  am  about  to  join  the  church,  and  that  although 
I  supposed  the  arrangement  which  we  entered  into 
six  years  ago  was  equitable  and  just,  I  am  not  sat- 
isfied with  it,  but,  feeling  that  I  ought  to  do  some- 
thing about  it,  I  have  determined  to  give  up  my 
house,  and  all  that  I  have,  to  pay  the  balance  of  that 
debt.  Then  I  shall  feel  that  I  can  enter  upon  a 
Christian  life."     These  men  look  at  each  other  with 


COMBIERCIAL   HONOR.  265 

surprise.  They  do  not  know  much  about  the  dif- 
ferent rehgious  schools  ;  they  do  not  know  the  dif- 
ference between  Arminianisni  and  Calvinism ;  but 
here  is  a  man  that  is  going  to  join  the  church,  a  part 
of  whose  creed  is  to  pay  his  debts.  He  professes  to 
love  Christ,  and  to  want  to  follow  him ;  and  here  is 
the  first  fruit  of  his  religion.  When  the  man  goes 
out,  they  rub  their  hands  and  say,  "  If  that  is  relig- 
ion, we  had  better  look  out  !  "  And  they  talk  it 
over.  And  one  of  them,  when  he  goes  home  at 
night,  says  to  his  wife,  "  One  of  the  strangest  things 
happened  to-day  that  I  ever  knew."  "  What  was 
it?  "  "You  know  Mr.  Acorn.  Five  or  six  years  ago 
he  was  owing  several  of  us,  and  became  hard  pressed, 
and  paid  us  half  the  amount,  and  we  released  him. 
To-day  he  came  to  us  and  said  that  he  was  going  to 
join  the  church,  and  that  he  was  going  to  sell  his 
house  and  lot  and  furniture,  and  pay  us  off."  An- 
other man  goes  home  and  tells  it,  and  another,  and 
another. 

And  what  is  the  result  ?  Why,  among  this  man's 
creditors  there  is  another  man  that  has  been  fixing 
some  little  debts  up.  He  has  been  in  the  very  same 
condition.  And  it  worries  his  conscience.  And  he 
says,  "  If  Mr.  Acorn  feels  that  he  ought  to  settle  his 
affairs  so,  I  do  not  know  why  I  ought  not  to  settle 
mine  so."  There  is  another  man  who  has  not  any 
debts,  but  who  has  a  very  thorough  habit  of  extract- 
ing debts.  And  he  begins  to  think,  "  Tliat  man's  re- 
ligion makes  him  consider  other  people's  feelings  as  I 
never  have,  although  I  have  always  supposed  that  I 
was  a  Christian,  as  the  world  goes."     He  was,  as  the 

12 


266  LECTURE-ROOM   TALKS. 

world  goes.  And  the  effect  is  to  bring  a  conviction 
into  that  mind  also. 

If  this  man  had  called  his  creditors  together  in 
his  house,  and  had  a  prayer-meeting,  and  knelt  with 
them,  and  prayed,  they  would  not  have  been  im- 
pressed at  all ;  but  this  interview  was  the  best  prayer 
and  conference  meeting  they  ever  had.  In  coming 
before  them,  and  bearing  testimony  to  his  faith  in 
Christ,  and  to  his  love  of  the  cause  of  religion,  and 
giving  up  his  house  and  property  to  pay  his  debts, 
that  his  life  might  be  consistent  with  his  profession, 
he  did  that  which  they  could  all  understand,  and 
which  led  them  to  believe  there  was  more  in  religion 
than  they  had  supposed.  And  the  effect  would  natu- 
rally be,  if  they  heard  religion  denounced,  to  lead  them 
to  stand  up  for  it,  even  if  they  had  not  before  had  faith 
in  it  themselves,  and  say,  "  Look  here !  you  need  not 
talk  about  religion.  I  know  one  man  that  I  think  has 
got  it,  —  Mr.  Acorn." 

You  will  say,  "  Is  it  evidence  that  a  man  is  a 
Christian,  because  he  pays  his  debts  ?  "  No  ;  but  you 
recollect  that  in  the  day  of  Pentecost  one  of  the  won- 
ders was  that  every  man  heard  the  gospel  preached 
in  his  own  tongue.  When  a  man  pays  his  debts,  he 
preaches  in  a  language  that  is  understood  by  more 
men  than  when  he  preaches  in  almost  any  other  lan- 
guage that  is  spoken. 

Now,  when  a  man  comes  into  the  church  under 
such  circumstances,  see  how  he  grows  !  He  has  a 
soil  twenty  feet  deep,  —  as  deep  as  that  in  the  Wyo- 
ming and  Wabash  valleys.  And  one  such  self-denial, 
one  such  heroism  (I  am  ashamed  to  call  it  a  heroism, 


COMMERCIAL   HONOR.  267 

for  it  OH  gilt  to  be  a  matter  of  common,  every-day  life) 
will  give  a  man  a  power,  an  impulse,  that  will  not 
spend  itself  in  his  whole  life. 

Against  this  it  might  be  argued  that  it  is  a  brave 
thing  to  try  to  keep  a  family  up  out  of  the  reach  of 
want  in  life,  —  and  it  is  ;  but  which  is  better,  to  make 
them  comfortable  outside,  or  to  give  them  moral  in- 
spiration inside  ?  It  is  not  now  a  question  of  bar- 
gain and  agreement,  but  a  question  of  moral  capital 
laid  up. 

I  should  say,  therefore,  to  this  brother,  I  will  acquit 
you  of  all  dishonesty  in  the  past ;  I  will  admit  that 
you  did,  according  to  the  doctrine  of  the  world,  the 
thing  that  was  honorable  and  right ;  but  I  advise  you, 
if  you  want  to  be  a  thoroughly  good  Christian,  to 
part  with  that  house,  distribute  your  goods,  and  begin 
with  a  clear  conscience,  not  only,  but,  according  to  the 
Word  of  God,  be  lionest  in  the  sight  of  men.  There  is 
a  great  deal  in  that. 

So  much  for  this  case. 

Now  let  me  say,  that,  when  we  enter  upon  a  Chris- 
tian life,  or  when  —  as  men  are  continually  doing  — 
we  come  to  successive  periods  and  epochs  of  Chris- 
tian experience  (for  as  trees  grow  in  rings,  resting 
in  winter  and  developing  in  summer,  so  men  in  their 
Christian  experience  rise  by  stages,  taking  an  inspi- 
ration from  one  circumstance,  and  stopping  to  solid- 
ify and  ripen  that ;  then  taking  another  inspiration 
from  some  other  circumstance,  and  stopping  to  solidify 
and  ripen  that ;  and  so  on),  there  is  a  tendency 
founded  in  nature  to  give  some  external  form  to  our 
internal  condition  of  feeling.     That  is  the  true  func- 


268  LECTURE-EOOM  TALKS. 

tion  of  the  ordinance  of  baptism,  of  the  Lord's  Sup- 
per, and  of  a  public  profession  of  faith  in  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ.  Not  one  of  these  things  is  of  any 
value,  except  as  a  means  of  reducing  to  sight,  and 
presenting  to  the  world  in  a  physical  form,  certain 
great  spiritual  conditions  or  truths.  They  are  valu- 
able, but  they  are  not  enough.  Every  man  must 
make  ordinances  for  himself  besides  those  which  now 
exist.  Almost  every  man,  aside  from  the  ordinary 
observances  of  men  who  profess  Christ,  is  called  to  do 
something  which  belongs  to  himself  alone.  The  com- 
mand is,  "  Take  up  "  ■ —  not  the  cross,  not  the  generic 
cross,  not  the  historic  cross  —  "  take  up  thy  cross,  and 
follow  me."  What  it  is,  everybody  must  determine 
for  himself.  The  probability  is  that  it  will  interpret 
itself  to  you  very  quickly. 

When  men  are  propounding  to  themselves  this  new 
life,  it  is  particularly  desirable  that  they  should  signal- 
ize it  by  that  which  to  them  and  to  all  the  world  is  an 
act  of  heroic  endeavor. 

Let  us  take  an  instance.  We  will  suppose  that 
there  has  been  a  quarrel  between  two  men.  It  has 
run  on  for  many  months,  and  is  heaped  up  and 
heaped  up  by  little  aggravating  circumstances.  Li 
the  providence  of  God  one  of  them  is  inspired  by  a 
higher  Christian  feeling,  and,  proposing  to  go  into 
the  church,  he  feels  it  to  be  his  duty  to  set  himself 
right  with  his  fellow-men.  The  first  man  he  thinks 
of  is  this  man  with  whom  he  has  quarrelled  ;  but 
Satan  says  to  him,  "  You  have  nothing  to  do  with  that 
man  ;  you  have  behaved  yourself  right,  and  you  have 
nothing  to   do  with  him."     The  probability  is  that 


COMMERCIAL  HONOR.  269 

Satan  is  a  lying  counsellor  in  ninety-nine  cases  in  a 
hundred.  Tlierc  never  is  a  long-continued  quarrel  in 
which,  cither  negatively  or  positively,  both  parties  are 
not  at  fault.  Some  may  be  more  to  blame,  and  some 
less  ;  but  it  seems  to  me  that  if  a  man  is  in  the  least  a 
cause  of  offence  to  another  man,  he  should  approve 
himself  before  God  and  man,-  —  he  should  say,  "  Here 
is  my  cross  :  I  must  make  overtures  to  this  man,  and 
ask  his  forgiveness  for  everything  that  I  have  done 
which  is  wrong." 

"  Well,"  it  is  asked,  "  suppose  it  is  a  case  in  which 
I  do  not  feel  that  I  have  done  anything  wrong  ?  "  My 
reply  is,  "  Then  so  much  the  worse  for  you."  "  But 
would  yovi  have  me  go  and  ask  a  man's  forgiveness 
when  I  did  not  feel  that  I  was  wrong  ?  "  If  your  con- 
science were  as  sensitive  as  it  should  be,  you  would 
feel  that  you  were  wrong.  There  is  enough  in  your 
temper  that  is  wrong,  if  you  are  not  guilty  of  any 
wrong  action.  At  any  rate,  let  it  be  known  that  be- 
cause you  were  about  to  profess  the  religion  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  you  went  and  humbled  yourself  to 
that  man,  and  asked  pardon,  that  the  old  difficulty 
might  be  settled,  and  almost  said  to  him,  "  Make  your 
own  terms,  only  let  there  be  peace  between  us  :  I  can- 
not go  into  the  church  and  feel  that  I  am  carrying  this 
quarrel  with  me."  Would  not  your  attitude  toward 
him  melt  him  if  he  had  a  spark  of  nobility  in  him,  — 
would  not  he  try  to  lighten  your  yoke,  —  and  would 
not  the  whole  community  say,  "  That  is  a  sincere 
man,"  —  and  would  not  the  doing  of  that  disagree- 
able thing  put  yoii  along  further  in  the  Cln-istian 
life  than  all  the  hymns,  good  as  they  are,  and   all 


270  LECTURE-ROOM  TALKS. 

the  prayers,  useful  as  they  are,  that  you  could  utter 
in  a  year,  or  in  a  decade  of  years? 

I  have  a  case  in  my  mind  which  occurred  twenty 
years  ago.  A  man  who  was  going  to  unite  with  the 
church  where  I  was  pastor  came  and  handed  me  four 
or  five  different  sums  of  money,  with  names  attached 
to  them,  and  said,  "  I  want  you  to  go  to  these  per- 
sons and  say  to  them  that  in  transactions  of  which 
they  know  nothing  the  firm  to  which  I  belonged 
cheated  them,  and  that  though  I  knew  it,  being  a 
younger  partner,  I  did  not  feel  free  to  interfere,  but 
that  now  I  do  not  feel  that  I  can  keep  this  portion  of 
the  profits."  See  what  a  good  conscience  he  had. 
He  remembered  these  cases,  and  ascertained  the  sums, 
and  calculated  the  interest,  and  brought  the  amounts 
to  me,  that  I  miglit  hand  them  to  the  persons  to  whom 
they  rightfully  belonged.  He  would  not  let  his  name 
be  known.  Said  lie,  "  If  my  name  should  be  disclosed, 
my  partners  would  be  disgraced  ;  and  if  they  do  not 
choose  to  acknowledge  their  part  in  the  wrong,  I  can- 
not expose  them."  But  he  could  not  take  the  step  of 
joining  the  church  without  repairing  his  share  of  the 
wrong.  I  recollect  that  one  man  whom  I  went  to 
begged  me  to  tell  him  who  it  was.  Said  he,  "  I  want 
to  know  that  man."  I  said,  "  He  is  about  to  unite 
with  the  church,  and  he  felt  called  upon  to  settle  these 
matters  ;  but  I  am  not  at  liberty  to  disclose  his  name." 
I  did  not  question  the  man,  and  I  did  not  know 
whether  he  was  a  Christian  or  not ;  but  I  saw  that 
such  a  testimony  touched  his  very  heart. 

Now,  was  not  that  an  ordinance  a  great  deal  more 
in  accordance  with  Christ's  spirit  and  practice  than 


COMMERCIAL   HONOR.  271 

baptism  is  once  in  a  thousand  times  ?  It  was  a 
baptism,  —  of  a  different  kind,  to  be  sure,  but  it  was 
one  wliich  every  man  understood,  and  which  the  sub- 
ject of  it  felt. 

If  there  is  any  wrong  thing  that  you  have  done,  lose 
no  time  in  making  reparation  for  it,  if  it  be  not  too 
late.  There  are  some  wrongs  that  cannot  be  repaired ; 
but  there  are  many  reparable  wrongs.  And  no  young 
man  who  is  surrounded  by  the  temptations  of  life,  and 
who  is  constantly  balancing  in  his  mind  between  right 
and  wrong,  can  afford  to  go  into  Christian  life  without 
seeing  that  his  conscience  is  void  of  offence  toward 
God  and  men.  The  question  ought  not  to  be  with 
any  man,  when  he  becomes  a  Christian,  "  How  much 
wrong  can  I  reserve,  and  cover  up,  and  evade  repair- 
ing ? "  The  feeling  with  every  man  who  becomes  a 
Christian  should  be,  "  I  am  about  to  take  upon  my- 
self the  name  of  my  glorious  Saviour,  and  I  cannot 
afford  to  do  it  except  in  circumstances  which  will 
show  that  I  am  earnest  and  conscientious,  and  that  I 
am  moved  by  the  Spirit  of  God." 

There  is  one  other  line  of  thought  connected  with 
this,  and  that  is,  the  relation  of  positive  actions  of  this 
kind  to  Christian  emotions.  One  of  the  difficulties 
that  I  find  among  men  is  the  great  want  of  combus- 
tion. Christians  do  not  know  how  to  make  oxygen 
for  their  own  use.  When  they  go  to  church,  where 
there  is  singing  and  praying  and  talking,  they  feel  no 
lack  of  fuel  and  fire,  but  when  they  go  away  a  reac- 
tion takes  place ;  and  they  say,  "  When  I  am  at  the 
meetings,  I  feel  well  and  comfortable ;  but  when  I  go 
home,  somehow  I  lose  all  that  which  I  have  gained, 


272  LECTUEE-ROOM  TALKS. 

and  almost  the  whole  week  seems  dreary  and  cold." 
They  don't  know  how  to  keep  up  the  warmth  from 
day  to  day.  And  when  they  try  to,  they  usually  go 
into  a  dark  room  that  is  ventilated,  and  kneel  down, 
and  try  to  say  their  prayers,  and  fail  to  derive  satis- 
faction ;  and  they  are  quite  helpless  and  ignorant  of 
how  to  kindle  the  flame  of  real  feeling  and  satisfying 
love  in  their  own  souls.  And  let  me  say  to  you,  that 
while  devotional  exercises  are  pre-eminently  necessary, 
—  more  necessary  than  you  think,  even,  —  you  will 
find  that  they  will  come  in  far  better  after  some  posi- 
tive act,  than  when  you  rely  on  them  as  mere  abstract 
means  of  grace. 

Now  suppose,  when  you  contemplate  the  want  and 
suffering  in  the  community,  instead  of  saying,  "  I 
cannot  spare  my  time  to  relieve  the  needy,"  you 
should  say,  "  Somebody  must  go  and  visit  the  father- 
less and  the  widow,  somebody  must  look  after  strangers, 
somebody  must  seek  out  the  poor  and  minister  to  their 
necessities,  and  it  is  as  much  my  duty  as  anybody's"  ? 
If  you  should  go  with  a  sincere  desire  to  do  them 
good,  their  condition  would  touch  your  feelings,  and 
your  heart  would  be  kindled  into  a  glow  of  Christian 
fervor.  This  is  not  an  ideal  picture.  It  is  not  an 
imaginary  case.     It  is  a  reality. 

Go  and  ask  God  first  to  bless  others,  and  next  to 
bless  you  ;  and  then  see  if  prayer  is  not  as  succulent 
and  full  as  a  spice-bush  in  spring,  and  as  beautiful  as 
a  rose-tree  all  a-blossom.  If  you  find  it  hard  to  en- 
gage in  devotional  exercises,  do  something  ;  and  do 
something  that  is  something,  and  that  oneans  some- 
thing, and  see  if  the  gate  is  not  opened. 


COMMERCIAL   HONOR.  273 

I  think  that  one  of  the  most  indispensable  means  of 
grace  is  personal,  vigorous,  practical  activity  in  the 
cause  which  you  profess  to  believe  in ;  and  if  it  does 
not  react  in  the  form  of  prayer  and  devotion,  then 
your  case  will  be  a  rarity. 

Q.  Suppose  a  man  is  prosperous,  and  his  business  is  all  right, 
■with  no  failure  impending,  nor  apparently  any  chance  of  such  a 
thing,  and,  feeling  that  he  would  like  to  make  his  wife  and  chil- 
dren secure  against  contingency,  he  says,  "  I  have  that  house,  and 
I  will  make  it  over  to  my  wife,"  and  he  does  make  it  over  to 
her,  — is  he  justified  in  taking  such  a  step  ? 

I  hold,  not  only  that  he  is  justified  in  taking  it,  but 
that  he  would  be  sinful  if  he  did  not  take  it.  I  think 
that  with  the  known  contingencies  of  business,  if  a 
man  is  out  of  debt,  and  is  in  circumstances  such  that 
he  can  do  it,  and  everybody  knows  it,  or  he  can  prove 
it  to  everybody,  it  is  a  part  of  his  duty  to  his  house- 
hold to  secure  them  a  shelter.  I  think,  that,  when  a 
man  has  prospered,  he  has  a  right  to  secure  a  founda- 
tion to  stand  on,  from  which  to  work  in  order  to  make 
headway  against  his  debts,  and  ultimately  pay  them, 
if  he  should  chance  to  become  involved  ;  for,  ordi- 
narily, when  a  man  is  in  prosperity,  and  he  secures  a 
piece  of  property  for  himself  and  his  family,  I  regard 
it  not  merely  as  securing  a  shelter  and  a  bulwark 
against  poverty,  but  also  as  a  means  of  enabling  him 
to  recover  himself  if  he  fails.  Such  is  the  nature  of 
society,  that,  when  a  man  is  unfortunate  in  business, 
and  goes  down,  he  can  find  no  place  on  which  to  rest 
his  foot  that  he  may  regain  his  position.  And  you 
shall  often  hear  men  say,  who  have  lost  their  property, 
and  are  in  debt,  "  If  I  could  only  see  my  family  pro- 

12*  B 


274  LECTURE-ROOM   TALKS. 

vided  for,  and  comfortable,  I  could  go  to  work  and 
soon  make  up  this  money.  All  I  want  is  a  fair 
chance."  Tliat  is  the  reason  why  the  National  Bank- 
rupt Law  ought  to  have  been  passed  scores  of  years  ago. 
Such  a  law  is  a  great  national  humanity.  I  call  it  a 
great  national  morality.  For  what  a  man  wants  is  a 
place  to  put  his  artillery.  He  must  have  room  for  his 
gun-carriage,  or  he  cannot  fight  to  any  purpose. 

But  here  is  the  case  of  a  man  who  got  into  dif- 
ficulty, became  involved  in  debt,  failed,  and  could 
have  paid  all  he  owed,  but  who,  instead  of  meeting 
his  obligations  in  full,  settled  with  his  creditors  by 
paying  them  fifty  per  cent,  and  then  made  over  his 
house  to  his  wife,  to  secure  her  and  his  children 
against  suffering.     The  cases  are  widely  different. 

If  a  man  uses  foresight,  and  in  the  days  of  his  pros- 
perity builds  himself  a  refuge  in  the  mountain  against 
the  storm  and  the  flood,  I  think  all  the  world  will  say 
that  he  has  a  right  to  resort  to  it  when  the  storm  and 
the  flood  come  ;  but  when  a  man  has  not  had  fore- 
sight, when  a  man  has  not  taken  any  such  precaution, 
and  then,  when  the  rains  descend,  and  the  floods 
come,  and  the  winds  blow,  and  beat  upon  his  house, 
he  begins  with  materials  that  belong  to  his  creditors, 
with  that  which  is  not  his  own,  to  build  a  refuge  for 
himself,  or  for  his  wife  and  children,  people  will 
differ  in  opinion  as  to  the  propriety  of  his  course. 
Some  will  be  very  charitable  toward  him,  and  some 
will  not. 

As  for  myself,  I  am  very  far  from  taking  sides  with 
those  who'  indiscriminately  denounce  men  that  have 
failed  in  business,  and  have  reserved   a  portion   of 


COMMERCIAL   HONOR.  275 

their  property  to  shield  their  families  from  distress. 
I  go  to  the  other  extreme,  and  take  the  part  of  such 
men  whom  I  hear  people  railing  out  against.  Much 
of  the  wrong  that  men  do  is  done  through  the  force 
of  affection.  It  is  not  because  men  would  not  gladly 
pay  their  creditors  that  they  withhold  a  part  of  their 
means  in  cases  such  as  we  have  been  considering  ;  but 
many  a  man,  who  would  willingly  take  the  rain  and 
hail  on  his  bare  head,  and  go  with  a  crust  of  bread, 
says,  "  I  cannot  see  that  woman  and  those  children 
suffer."  And  if  there  is  ever  a  case  where  a  man 
sins  under  the  influence  of  sanctified  affections,  it  is 
where  he  does  it  for  the  sake  of  his  wife  and  cliil- 
dren.  I  therefore  have  great  sympathy  for  those  who 
are  in  bankruptcy.  There  is  much  odium  heaped 
upon  them  that  does  not  go  above  the  atmosphere 
of  the  earth  ;  and  God  takes  the  part  of  many  men 
who  are  cast  out,  and  whose  names  are  hated,  and 
says,  they  are  "  more  sinned  against  than  sinning." 
But  I  am  speaking  to-night  for  the  sake  of  those 
who  are  not  involved,  —  for  the  sake  of  young  men 
who  have  their  life  yet  before  them.  And  I  say  to 
them,  first,  "  Do  not  get  into  this  place  "  ;  and,  sec- 
ondly, "  If  you  do  get  into  it,  get  out  in  such  a  way 
that  the  name  of  Christ  shall  be  honored  in  you,  and 
not  brought  to  shame." 

Q.  Suppose  the  circumstances  had  been  changed,  and  this  man, 
•when  he  failed,  had  made  an  assignment  of  his  entire  property,  — 
had  given  up  everything,  not  keeping  any  house  for  his  wife  ;  and 
suppose,  subsequently,  he  had  earned  this  house,  and  acquired 
some  other  property,  would  you  have  advised  him  now,  as  a  mat- 
ter of  duty,  to  have  sold  all  he  had,  and  handed  the  proceeds 
over  to  his  creditors  ? 


276  LECTURE-ROOM   TALKS. 

I  sliould  certainly  say,  in  regard  to  ordinary  debts  — 
I  am  not  now  speaking  of  those  celestial  transactions 
that  take  place  in  connection  with  stocks  and  such 
things,  which  I  do  not  quite  understand — in  regard 
to  ordinary  debts  I  should  say,  that,  if  a  man  owes  a 
debt,  in  the  court  of  honor  and  conscience  no  agree- 
ment can  rub  it  out  except  the  quid  pro  quo.  I  think 
every  young  man  should  feel,  "  If  I  contract  a  lawful 
debt,  I  will  pay  it,  if  I  work  to  the  last  minute  of  my 
life."  If  it  is  necessary,  that,  at  the  same  time  that 
you  are  doing  it,  you  should  carry  along  your  family, 
let  every  one  see  that  it  is  consistent  with  this  heroic 
purpose.  It  ought  not  to  be  considered  heroic,  —  it 
ought  to  be  considered  simple  duty ;  but  it  is  heroic 
in  this  dark  world.  Where  a  man  has  contracted  a 
debt,  nothing  can  liquidate  it  in  his  conscience  but 
the  cash.  That  does  it.  And  the  last  dollar  that  a 
man  pays  of  such  debt  is  a  dollar  that  does  not  touch 
the  pocket  of  the  creditor  half  so  much  as  it  does  the 
strings  of  the  harps  in  heaven,  making  sounds  that 
are  sweet  in  the  ears  of  God  and  angels. 

There  ought  to  be  more  sacredness  attaching  to  a 
man's  word  than  there  is.  In  this  great  whirling 
population,  fortunes  are  ground  not  half  so  much  as 
men's  consciences.  And  we  want  to  come  to  a  higher 
sense  of  the  obligation  which  rests  upon  men  to  keep 
their  word  and  honor  intact  and  pure  to  the  very  end. 


THE  SPONTANEOUS  GOODNESS  OF  GOD.     277 


THE  SPONTANEOUS  GOODNESS  OF  GOD. 


HERE  is  one  expression  in  the  "Word  of 
God  that  has  always  come  home  to  me  with 
very  great  power  and  sweetness.  It  is  that 
where  God  is  spoken  of  as  acting  toward 
men  for  his  oivii  name's  sake,  or  for  his  own  sake. 
I  have  always  preferred  to  give  this  the  highest  moral 
and  affectionate  interpretation.  I  look  into  life  to  see 
if  I  can  find  any  analogy  or  suggestion  of  the  feeling 
which  is  meant.  I  find  men  doing  service  to  each 
other  because  it  is  their  duty.  A  man  is  appointed  to 
perform  a  given  function.  He  performs  that  function. 
Men  are  benefited  by  it.  He  may  not  be  without  a 
kindly  sympathy  for  them  ;  but  the  reason  why  he  per- 
forms that  function  is  that  it  is  duty. 

I  find  that  others  perform  service  because  they  are 
persuaded.  We  ask  them  to  do  us  a  kindness,  and 
they  comply  with  our  request  by  reason  of  our  per- 
suasion, or  by  virtue  of  some  motive  that  we  bring  to 
bear  upon  them.  And  the  reason  why  men  act  kindly 
toward  each  other  varies  from  a  momentary  flush  of 
generous  feeling  to  a  much  higher  one,  —  namely,  an 
inherent  love  of  doing  kind  things.  I  remember  in 
my  childhood  persons  that  did  kind  things,  as  I  thought, 
not  only  because  it  was  easier,  but  because  it  was 
pleasanter  for  them.  I  have  one  in  my  mind.  I 
never  heard  her  speak  an  unkind  word,  and  never 
knew  her  to  refuse  an  ofiice  of  tenderness  and  kind- 


278  LECTURE-KOOM   TALKS. 

ness,  —  not  even  in  tlie  midst  of  boisterous  boys  and 
frolicsome  children,  who,  in  some  part  of  the  day,  tread 
on  everybody's  toes.  I  never  saw  her  other  than 
ready  to  smile.  She  was  always  willing  to  speak 
kindly  and  sympathetically.  And,  as  I  look  back 
upon  her  now,  I  know  that  it  was  her  nature  to  do  it ; 
that  it  was  the  instinct  of  kindness  and  love  ;  that  she 
did  not  say  to  herself,  "  I  ouglit  to  do  it,"  and  then 
restrain  other  feelings  in  order  to  do  it ;  but  that  the 
first  thing  which  presented  itself  to  her  was  gentle- 
ness, goodness,  cheerfulness  ;  that  she  consulted  her 
own  natural  desires. 

A  nightingale  is  made  so  that,  if  it  speak  at  all,  it 
speaks  musically  ;  and  there  are  some  hearts  that,  if 
they  act  toward  you  at  all,  act  in  the  spirit  of  love. 
The  grace  of  love,  the  beauty  of  love,  the  delicacy,  the 
nobleness,  the  fulness,  the  freshness,  the  largeness, 
of  love  belongs  to  them,  as  a  gift  of  God  in  their  con- 
stitution. 

Now  this  is  imperfect,  —  it  must  needs  be  so  in  all 
human  creatures ;  but  it  is  sufficient  to  give  the  mind 
a  kindling  spark.  And  I  take  this  thought  and  rise 
to  a  Being  who  dwells  above  all  mutations  of  matter, 
time,  and  space ;  who  is  eternal,  and  who  in  the  great- 
ness of  his  nature  is  able  to  act  without  variableness, 
without  caprice,  and  whose  first  impulse  is  love,  or 
kindness. 

As  when  a  musician  draws  near  to  an  instrument 
to  play,  he  does  it  often,  not  because  tliere  are  persons 
in  the  other  room  that  may  be  pleased  with  his  play- 
ing, but  because  he  himself  hungers  for  music,  and 
because  he  wants  to  play  ;  so  there  is  such  a  thing  as 


THE  SPONTANEOUS  GOODNESS  OF  GOD.     279 

a  love  ill  the  heart  that  acts,  not  because  it  is  right, 
(though  it  is  right),  not  because  it  is  duty  (though  it 
may  be  duty),  but  because  the  heart  itself  wants  to 
love. 

I  think  of  Christ  as  a  being  who  answers  a  certain 
hunger  for  love  in  himself;  who  loves  because  he 
himself  wants  to  love ;  who  spares,  who  forgives,  who 
succors,  who  bears,  for  his  own  name's  sake.  We  are 
all  the  time  interposing  some  other  and  lower  reason 
why  he  does  these  things.  We  say  that  he  is  admin- 
istering a  government,  and  that  he  must  conform  to 
the  laws  of  that  government.  But  I  go  back  to  the 
greater  truth  which  is  revealed  in  the  Bible,  that 
there  is  a  nature  in  God  by  which  he  pours  out  his 
love  upon  men  simply  because  it  is  the  necessity  of 
his  nature  to  do  so.  It  is  the  love  of  God  in  Christ 
that  makes  him  love ;  and  it  is  the  amplitude  of  it, 
and  the  delicacy  of  it,  as  well  as  the  grandeur  and 
vastness  of  it,  that  makes  him  act  toward  sinners  for 
his  own  name's  sake,  —  that  is,  for  his  own  nature's 
sake.  It  is  spontaneous.  If  there  were  not  one  mo- 
tive in  the  world  (there  are  many,  —  but  if  there 
were  none)  why  Christ  should  have  compassion  on 
the  poor  sinner,  his  own  feelings  would  cause  him  to 
have  it.  If  there  were  not  an  external  argument  ad- 
dressed to  the  throne  of  God  for  sparing  grace  and 
mercy,  there  would  be  reasons  in  himself,  in  his  own 
nature,  as  the  divine  Lover,  that  would  inspire  him  to 
exercise  them. 

Well,  what  are  the  benefits  of  this  view  ? 

First,  it  is  a  view  of  God  that  my  heart  loves.     I 
cannot  bear  that  which,  for  reasons   of  instruction, 


280  LECTURE-ROOM   TALKS. 

-we  continually  arc  forced  to  do.  It  is  not  given  to 
the  mind,  except  through  long  education,  in  any 
measure,  and  only  imperfectly  to  any,  to  take  in  the 
nature  of  a  being  that  is  so  complex  and  vast  as  God , 
must  needs  be,  and  we  are  obliged,  as  it  were,  to 
separate  him  into  elements  ;  and,  taken  in  that  way, 
he  seems  to  be  not  that  round  and  perfect  thing 
which  we  call  a  companion  or  friend  here,  and  to- 
ward which  all  our  sympathies  go  out.  As  we  view 
him,  .God  seems  to  be  a  cluster  of  nebulous  points, 
each  one  of  them  bright,  but  somehow  evasive  and 
tenuous ;  and  when  we  look  up,  and  want  to  love, 
there  seems  to  be  a  bright  vagueness,  and  we  think 
there  must  be  a  God,  but  do  not  comprehend  him,  be- 
cause we  have  dissolved  his  personality  into  generali- 
zations and  abstractions. 

Now,  I  like  to  go  back  and  clothe  God,  in  one  sense, 
with  human  attributes,  and  so  far  render  iiim  a  per- 
sonality that  I  shall  be  able  to  take  him  with  clear- 
ness and  distinctness  as  a  friend ;  and,  above  all,  I 
like  to  ascribe  to  him  a  nature  so  rich  that  the  spon- 
taneous outpourings  of  his  love,  with  all  its  graces, 
and  all  its  beauties,  and  all  its  sweetness,  shall  exalt 
him  in  my  sight,  and  make  it  easier  for  me  to  pray  to 
him,  and  commune  with  him,  and  serve  him.  I  love 
to  serve  a  noble  God.  It  is  an  exceeding  consolation 
to  men  to  have  the  thought  that  their  salvation  stands, 
not  in  what  they  are  or  what  they  do,  but  in  the  grace 
of  God  ;  that  is,  in  that  nature  of  God  by  which  he  is 
able  to  do  kindnesses  to  those  that  do  not  deserve  kind- 
nesses. In  other  words,  it  is  an  exceeding  consolation 
to  men  to  put  their  confidence  in  a  God  who  is  able  to 


THE  SPONTANEOUS  GOODNESS  OF  GOD.     281 

do  all  that  we  need  to  have  done  for  reasons  that  lie 
in  his  own  nature,  rather  than  for  reasons  that  he  sees 
existing  in  our  character  and  circumstances. 

I  love  to  feel,  in  hours  of  sorrow  and  despondency 
by  reason  of  sin,  that  my  salvation  does  not  stand  al- 
together on  my  nature  and  character  ;  that  there  is, 
somehow,  in  God,  —  not  in  any  plan  of  salvation,  but 
in  the  original  tendency  of  the  Divine  nature, —  this 
great  power  of  enveloping  love,  which  makes  men 
worthy  to  receive  his  benevolence  and  kindness  ;  which, 
as  it  were,  transforms  them  into  loveliness.  I  love  to 
feel,  that,  though  I  am  deficient,  Christ  is  not ;  that, 
though  my  righteousness  may  be  as  filthy  rags,  his  is 
royal  and  radiant ;  that,  though  I  may  be  weak,  ever- 
lasting strength  is  mine.  Divine  grace  is  made  suffi- 
cient for  our  weakness  ;  and  we  may  well  rejoice  to  be 
empty  and  infirm,  if  being  so  is  the  occasion  of  bring- 
ing in  the  fulness  of  God,  and  the  strength  of  God, 
and  the  mercy  of  God,  and  the  love  of  God  in  Christ 
Jesus. 


282  LECTURE-ROOM  TALKS. 


THE  FULNESS  OP   CHRIST'S  LOVE. 


F  there  is  any  one  thing  in  which  I  feel  that 
my  own  Christian  experience  has  developed 
more  than  in  another,  it  is  the  all-sided  use 
^  of  love  and  worship  toward  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.  Every  man's  mind  that  acts  for  itself  has  to 
go  through  its  periods  of  development  and  evolution. 
In  the  earlier  part  of  my  Christian  career  and  minis- 
try, I  had  but  glimpses  of  Christ,  and  was  eagerly 
seeking  to  develop  in  my  own  mind,  and  for  my  peo- 
ple, a  full  view  of  Christ,  particularly  with  reference 
to  the  conversion  of  men,  —  to  start  them,  in  other 
words,  in  the  Christian  life.  And  for  a  great  many 
years  it  was  Christ  as  the  wisdom  of  God  unto  salvation 
that  filled  my  mind  very  much  ;  and  I  preached  Christ 
as  a  power,  —  not  a  bit  too  much,  but  almost  exclu- 
sively. 

I  think  there  has  been  going  on  in  me,  steadily  and 
gradually,  a  growing  appropriation  of  Christ  to  all 
needs,  to  every  side  and  phase  of  experience  ;  so  that  at 
no  period  of  my  life  was  I  ever  so  conscious  of  a  per- 
sonal need,  so  definite,  and  at  so  many  points,  as  now. 
I  do  not  know  that  I  experience  such  enthusiasm  as  I 
have  at  some  former  periods  of  my  life  ;  but  I  think 
that  at  no  other  period  did  I  ever  have  such  a  sense 
of  the  fulness  of  God  in  Christ,  or  such  a  sense  of 
the  special  point  at  which  this  divine  all-supply  touches 
the  human  want. 


THE   FULNESS   OF   CHRIST'S   LOVE.  283 

A  few  points  I  will  mention,  that  are  much  in  my 
mind. 

The  love  of  Christ,  as  I  recollect  it  in  my  childhood, 
was  taught  almost  entirely  from  the  work  of  redemp- 
tion. That  work  of  redemption  was  itself  a  historical 
fact,  and  it  was  sought  to  stir  up  the  heart  and  the 
affections  by  a  continual  review  and  iteration  of  the 
great  facts  of  Christ's  earthly  mission,  passion,  atone- 
ment, and  love.  I  became  conscious,  very  early  in  my 
ministry,  that  I  did  not  derive,  —  nor  could  I  see  that 
Christians  generally  derived  —  from  the  mere  con- 
tinued presentation  of  that  circle  of  facts,  a  perpetual 
help  to  anything  like  the  extent  that  life  needs.  There 
would  come  to  me,  as  there  come  to  the  church,  times 
in  which  all  those  facts  seemed  to  be  fused  and  kin- 
dled, and  to  afford  great  light  and  consolation ;  but 
these  were  alternative  and  occasional,  whereas  the 
need  was  perpetual. 

And  it  was  not  until  I  went  beyond  these  —  not 
disdaining  them,  but  using  them  rather  as  a  torch,  as 
a  means  of  interpreting  Christ  in  a  higher  relation  — 
that  I  entered  into  a  train  of  thought  that  revealed  to 
me  the  intrinsic  nature  of  God.  I  had  an  idea  that 
he  loved  me  on  account  of  Calvary  and  Gethsemane, 
on  account  of  certain  historical  facts  ;  but  I  came,  lit- 
tle by  little,  through  glimpses  and  occasional  appre- 
ciations, to  that  which  now  is  a  continuous,  unbroken 
certainty,  namely,  a  sense  of  the  everlasting  need 
of  God,  in  Christ,  to  love.  I  began  to  interpret  the 
meaning  of  love,  not  by  contemplating  a  few  histori- 
cal facts,  but  by  running  over  in  my  mind  human  fac- 
ulties, exalting  them,  and  imagining  them  to  have 


284  LECTURE-ROOM   TALKS. 

infinite  scope  in  the  Divine  mind.  I  began  to  apply 
our  ideas  of  infinity  and  almightiness  to  the  attributes 
of  God,  and '  to  form  some  conception  of  what  affec- 
tion must  be  in  a  Being  wlio  had  created,  who  liad 
sustained  in  the  past,  and  who  was  to  sustain  through- 
out the  endless  future,  a  race  of  intelligent  creatures 
such  as  peopled  the  earth. 

In  that  direction  my  mind  grew,  and  in  that  direc- 
tion it  grows.  And  from  the  inward  and  everlasting 
nature  of  God  to  love  I  have  derived  the  greatest 
stimulus,  the  greatest  consolation,  and  the  greatest 
comfort  in  preaching  to  others. 

I  find  many  persons  that  speak  of  loving  Christ ; 
but  it  is  only  now  and  then  that  I  meet  those  who 
seem  to  be  penetrated  deeply  with  a  consciousness  of 
Christ's  love  to  them,  or  of  its  boundlessness,  its 
wealth,  its  fineness,  its  exceeding  delicacy,  its  trans- 
cendency, in  every  line  and  lineament  of  possible  con- 
ception. Once  in  a  while  people  have  this  view  break 
upon  them  in  meeting,  or  in  some  sick-hour  which 
leaves  the  mind  not  only  not  obscured  but  more 
acute,  or  in  some  revival  moment.  That  is  a  blessed 
visitation  which  brings  to  the  soul  a  realization  of  the 
capacity  of  God  to  love  imperfect  beings  with  infinite 
love,  and  which  enables  a  man  to  adapt  this  truth  to 
his  shame-hours,  his  sorrow-hours,  his  love-hours,  and 
his  selfish  hours,  and  to  find  all  the  time  that  there  is 
in  the  revelation  of  the  love  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus 
all-sufficient  food  for  the  soul.  It  is,  indeed,  almost 
to  have  the  gate  of  heaven  opened  to  you.  The 
treasure  is  inexhaustible. 

Out  of  tliat  has  grown  something  besides  ;  for  it  is 


THE   FULNESS   OF   CHRIST'S   LOVE.  285 

impossible  for  me  to  feel  that  Christ  loves  me  with 
such  an  all-surrounding  love,  and  to  feel,  as  I  do 
every  day  in  my  life,  that  he  has  to  love  me  with  im- 
perfections, that  he  never  loves  me  because  I  am  sym- 
metrical, never  because  I  am  good,  never  because  I 
deserve  his  love,  never  because  I  am  lovely,  but  al- 
ways because  he  has  the  power  to  love  erring  crea- 
tures,—  it  is  impossible  for  me  to  feel  thus,  and  not 
get  some  insight  into  divine  charity.  Being  conscious 
that  he  takes  me  with  all  my  faults,  I  cannot  but  be- 
lieve that  he  takes  others  with  their  faults,  —  Ro- 
man Catholics,  Swedenborgians,  Unitarians,  Univer- 
salists,  and  Christians  of  all  sects  and  denominations ; 
and  of  these,  not  only  such  as  are  least  exceptionable, 
but  such  as  are  narrow-minded,  such  as  are  bigoted, 
such  as  are  pugnacious,  such  as  are  unlovely.  I  be- 
lieve that  Christ  finds  much  in  them  that  he  loves ; 
but  whether  or  not  he  finds  much  in  them  that  he 
loves,  he  finds  in  himself  much  of  capacity  to  love 
them.  And  so  I  have  the  feeling,  that,  in  all  churches, 
in  all  denominations,  there  is  an  elect  class,  and  that 
in  regard  to  them  Christ  sees  of  the  travail  of  his  soul, 
a7id  is  satisfied. 

That  is  not  all.  Aside  from  this  catholicity  of 
love  for  Christians  in  all  sects  and  denominations,  I 
have  a  sense  of  ownership  in  other  people.  It  may 
seem  rather  fanciful,  but  it  has  been  a  source  of  abid- 
ing comfort  to  me  for  many  years  that  I  owned  every- 
body that  was  good  for  anything. 

I  came  here,  you  know,  many  years  ago,  under  pe- 
culiar circumstances.  I  came  just  at  the  critical 
period   of  the   antislavery   movement ;    and   I   came 


286  LECTURE-ROOM   TALKS. 

without  such  indorsement  as  is  usually  considered 
necessary  in  city  churches  in  the  East.  ■  Owing  to 
those  independent  personal  habits  that  belonged  to  me, 
and  which  were  strengthened  by  my  Western  training, 
I  never  consulted  brethren  in  the  ministry  as  to  what 
course  I  should  pursue,  but  carried  on  my  work  as 
fast  and  as  far  as  I  could  according  to  the  enlighten- 
ment of  my  conscience.  For  years,  as  you  will  recol- 
lect, it  excited  remark,  and  various  states  of  feeling. 
And  so  I  felt  always  as  though  I  was  not  particularly 
acceptable  to  Christians  beyond  my  own  flock,  witli 
the  exception  of  single  individuals  here  and  there  in 
other  churches.  But  I  have  felt  not  resentful,  and 
hardly  regretful ;  for  I  have  always  had  a  sort  of 
minor  under-feeling  that  when  I  was  at  home  I  was 
strong  and  all  right,  though  I  was  conscious  that  out- 
side of  my  own  affectionate  congregation  I  was  looked 
upon  as  some  speckled  devil.  This,  acting  upon  a 
nature  proud  enough  and  sensitive  enough,  has 
wrought  a  kind  of  feeling  that  I  never  would  intrude 
upon  anybody,  and  never  would  ask  any  favor  of  any- 
body,—  as  I  never  have  had  occasion  to  do;  and  I 
stood  very  much  by  myself.  But  I  never  felt  any  bit- 
terness toward  those  who  regarded  me  with  disfavor. 
And  I  speak  the  truth  when  I  declare  that  I  do  not 
remember  to  have  had  toward  any  minister  a  feeling 
that  I  would  have  been  afraid  to  have  God  review  in 
the  judgment-day,  and  that  I  do  not  remember  to 
have  had  toward  any  church  or  denomination  a  feel- 
ing that  Christ  would  not  approve. 

On   the   other   hand,  I   have   had   positively,   and 
springing  from  my  sense  of  the  wonderful  love  with 


THE   FULNESS   OF   CHRIST'S   LOVE.  287 

which  I  am  loved,  and  with  which  the  whole  church 
is  loved,  the  feeling  that  these  very  men  who  did  not 
accept  me  or  my  work  were  beloved  of  Christ,  and 
were  brethren  to  me ;  and  I  have  said  to  them,  "  I 
am  your  brother.  You  do  not  acknowledge  it ;  but  I 
am.  And  though  you  do  not  own  me,  I  own  you. 
All  that  is  good  in  you  is  mine,  and  I  am  in  sympathy 
with  it.  And  you  cannot  keep  me  out  of  your 
church."  I  belong  to  the  Presbyterian  Church.  I 
belong  to  the  Methodist  Church.  I  belong  to  the 
Baptist  Church.  I  belong  to  the  Episcopal  Church. 
I  belong  to  any  church  that  has  Christ  in  it.  I  go 
where  he  goes,  and  love  what  he  loves.  And  I  in- 
sist upon  it  that,  though  these  churches  exclude  me, 
they  cannot  keep  me  out.  All  those  that  I  have  rea- 
son to  believe  Christ  loves,  I  claim,  by  virtue  of  the 
love  that  Christ  has  for  me.  Hence  I  have  a  great 
sense  of  richness.  I  rejoice  in  everything  that  is  good 
in  all  these  denominations,  and  sorrow  for  everything 
that  is  bad,  or  that  hinders  the  work  of  Christ  in 
their  hands.  And  I  look  and  wait  and  long  for  that 
day  when  all  Christians  shall  recognize  each  other. 

I  think  that  people  in  the  church  are  like  persons 
riding  in  a  stage  at  night.  For  hours  they  sit  side  by 
side  and  shoulder  to  shoulder,  not  being  able,  in  the 
darkness,  to  distinguish  one  another ;  but  at  last, 
when  day  breaks,  and  they  look  at  each  other,  behold, 
they  discover  that  they  are  friends,  and,  it  may  be, 
near  relations  ! 

So  we  are  riding,  I  think,  in  the  chariot  of  salva- 
tion, and  do  not  know  that  we  are  brethren,  though 
we   sit  shoulder  to  shoulder;   but  as  the  millennial 


288  LECTURE-ROOM   TALKS. 

dawn  comes  on,  we  shall  find  it  ont.  I  have  great 
comfort  and  consolation  in  this  thonght. 

I  think,  moreover,  that  I  have  an  increasing  prac- 
tical and  personal  view  of  the  complementariness  of 
Christ,  in  the  sense  that  for  any  lack  that  there  may 
be  in  any  part  of  my  nature  there  is  a  supply  in  him ; 
and  that  he  makes  good  in  himself,  and,  by  grace  and 
providence,  in  me,  every  point  that  is  deficient. 

I  might  enlarge  this  statement,  and  show  how  it 
works  in  matters  relating  to  the  intellect.  It  is  im- 
possible for  an  active  mind,  free  to  think  and  explore, 
not  to  have  its  own  peculiar  trials  and  difficulties  with 
regard  to  investigations.  But  there  is  always  one 
remedy,  there  is  always  one  refuge.  When  you  can- 
not probe  to  the  bottom,  when  you  cannot  make  up 
your  mind,  when  you  are  tormented  by  doubts  and 
perplexities,  there  is  the  sense  of  Christ,  who  is  wis- 
dom itself,  and  is  made  wisdom  to  us,  and  to  whom 
we  may  safely  commit  the  thought  or  the  inquiry  that 
vexes  us.     It  is  an  unspeakable  comfort. 

As  a  man,  fevered  all  day  from  heat  and  dust,  at 
last  throws  himself  into  the  ocean  to  cleanse  and  re- 
fresh himself,  and  comes  out  another  man ;  so,  driven 
and  tossed  about  by  questions  in  relation  to  life's 
pressing  duties,  we  may  bathe  ourselves  in  the  ocean 
of  God's  love,  and  rise  prepared  with  new  zeal  for 
new  labor.  Of  every  point  of  disposition,  and  of 
every  element  of  grace,  Christ  is  made  unto  us  wis- 
dom. He  is  sanctification  ;  he  is  justification  ;  he  is 
all,  and,  blessed  be  his  name  !  in  all. 


WORKING   FOR   OTHERS.  289 


WORKING     FOR     OTHERS. 


HERE  are  some  of  the  commands  of  the 
New  Testament  that  respect  actions,  which 
are  far  more  important,  on  account  of  the 
implied  psychological  action  back  of  the  ex- 
ternal, than  we  are  accustomed  to  think.  The  simple 
matter  of  concerning  ourselves  for  the  salvation  of 
men  ;  or,  to  put  it  in  more  common  phrase,  of  labor- 
ing for  men's  awakening,  and  conversion,  and  upbuild- 
ing in  the  Christian  life,  —  this,  either  by  command  or 
implication,  is  the  New  Testament  duty  of  every  per- 
son who  is  brought  into  the  kingdom.  When  we  enter 
upon  the  service  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  we  are 
bound,  not  simply  to  bear  in  our  hand,  as  it  were,  the 
testimony  that  we  are  saved,  and  to  rejoice  in  our  own 
safety,  but  to  have  a  distinct  purpose,  either  uttered 
or  understood,  of  bringing  in  others.  Nor  can  we 
possibly  fulfil  that  purpose  by  laboring  once  in  a 
while,  when  there  is  a  revival,  and  when  the  whole 
church  and  all  the  community  are  stirred  up. 

The  so  carrying  our  life  and  nature  that  we  shall 
fulfil  this  duty  toward  our  fellow-men  is,  I  had  al- 
most said,  indispensable  to  the  experience  of  those 
Christian  graces  which  we  are  all  striving  for.  We 
are  covetous  of  the  gifts  of  the  Spirit ;  we  are  covetous 
of  humility,  and  meekness,  and  gentleness,  and  long- 
suffering,  and  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost.  We  not  only 
want  these  things,  but  we  pray  for  them ;  and  the  dis- 
13  s 


290  LECTURE-ROOM  TALKS. 

cipline  of  using  our  whole  sympathy  as  a  power  upon 
other  minds  is  one  of  those  things  which  stand  ahuost 
indispensably  connected  with  the  development  of  such 
special  Christian  experiences.  If  you  observe,  you 
will  see  that  persons  who  are  eminent  in  a  Christian 
life  are  in  some  way  always  active  in  behalf  of  other 
men's  spiritual  condition ;  and  you  will  see  that  men 
who  are  active  for  others  are  apt,  other  things  being 
equal,  to  excel  in  the  difficult  and  rare  graces.  It  is 
not  a  mere  accidental  juxtaposition  of  facts.  It  stands 
in  the  relation  of  cause  and  effect.  We  cannot  do  this 
work  faithfully  and  continuously  without  putting  our- 
selves into  a  condition  in  which  our  mind  unlocks,  as 
it  were,  all  the  mysteries  of  experience. 

One  of  the  first  things  that  suggests  itself  is  the 
staple  and  almost  hackneyed  exhortation  of  prayer- 
meetings.  There  is  nothing  more  common  than  for 
Christians  to  exhort  one  another  to  labor  for  the  con- 
version of  men ;  and  there  are  hundreds  of  persons 
who  are  disgusted  with  that  treatment  of  the  matter. 
Then  there  are  many  others  who  feel  that  they  might 
as  well  attempt  to  storm  a  fort,  with  sword  and  mus- 
ket, as  to  undertake  to  storm  the  human  heart,  or 
bring  any  influence  to  bear  upon  it.  In  the  first  place, 
men  are  tired  of  being  exhorted  to  take  care  of  each 
other's  souls.  Then  they  feel,  that,  though  it  may  be 
some  men's  duty  to  look  after  others'  spiritual  welfare, 
it  is  not  theirs. 

Now,  there  is  not  a  man  living  on  the  face  of  the 
earth  who  is  not  accessible,  in  one  or  other  of  his 
moods,  to  spiritual  influences,  as  conveyed  by  his  fel- 
low-men.    There  is  not  a  man  so  high  or  strong  or 


WORKING  FOR  OTHERS.  291 

wise  but  that  he  is  accessible  by  the  lowly.  There  are 
a  great  many  persons  high  in  station  who  would  not 
permit  an  equal  or  a  superior  to  speak  to  them  on  the 
subject  of  religion,  but  who  will  take  very  kindly  the 
preaching  of  a  person  who  makes  no  pretensions,  and 
whose  position  and  carriage  indicate  that  he  comes 
to  them  almost  reverentially,  certainly  deferentially. 
There  are  some  who  can  only  be  reached  by  persons 
that  have  "  no  influence,"  as  the  saying  is,  —  persons 
that  cannot "  speak  in  meeting  "  ;  persons  that  are  not 
socially  their  eqvials ;  persons  that  cannot  measure 
understanding  with  them. 

If  you  go  to  the  door  of  a  great  man,  who  has  great 
official  influence  or  power,  you  will  see  crowds  throng- 
ing thither  to  get  access  to  him  :  and  one  can  get  in 
because  he  is  the  governor  of  a  State  ;  another  can  get 
in  because  he  is  a  senator ;  another  can  get  in  because 
he  controls  such  and  such  pecuniary  or  political  influ- 
ences. But  there  is  a  whole  swarm  of  men  who  can- 
not get  in.  One  is  a  merchant,  another  is  a  banker, 
another  is  a  publisher,  another  is  a  traveller,  and  an- 
other is  something  else.  They  are  not  known,  and 
are  shuffled  one  side.  But  while  the  door  is  open, 
and  the  governor  and  senator  and  influential  men  are 
going  in,  a  little  dog  slips  in,  because  he  is  a  dog.  A 
man  would  not  be  allowed  to  go  in,  but  a  dog  is. 

I  would  rather  go  into  a  great  man's  heart  as  a  dog, 
than  to  be  shut  out  because  I  was  a  man.  A  little 
man,  who  does  not  put  too  much  on  himself,  and  is 
willing  to  go  in  anyhow,  oftentimes  gets  the  liberty  of 
slipping  in  at  the  door  of  a  man's  disposition,  when,  if 
he  were  a  great  man,  he  would  not  be  permitted  to  go 


292  LECTURE-ROOM   TALKS. 

in.  The  trouble  is  not  that  you  are  so  humble,  but 
that  you  are  not  humble  enough.  It  is  because,  being 
little,  you  are  not  willing  to  do  the  work  that  a  little 
man  can  do.  If  you  could  only  forget  yourself;  if 
the  thought  never  came  up  whether  you  were  big  or 
little ;  if  you  had  a  grateful  sense  of  what  Christ  has 
done  for  you,  and  a  realization  of  the  peril  which 
hangs  over  a  man's  head  all  the  time ;  if  you  carried 
the  man  in  your  heart  night  and  day,  and  could  not 
get  rid  of  him,  if  you  prayed  for  him,  and  yearned 
after  him,  and  desired  his  good,  —  with  that  state  of 
mind  you  might  safely  venture  to  go  to  him.  Under 
such  circumstances,  do  not  stop  to  ask,  "  Am  I  fitted 
to  undertake  this  work  ? "  You  will  find  that  out 
when  you  have  tried.  What  if  you  get  a  rebuff"?  It 
will  not  do  you  any  hurt,  and  it  may  do  you  much 
good.  At  any  rate,  Christ  took  buffets  for  our  sake ; 
and  we  ought  to  be  willing  to  take  buffets,  not  only  for 
his  sake,  but  for  others'  sakes. 

Now,  you  never  will  understand  the  innermost  feel- 
ings of  Christ  until  you  stand  related  to  men  just  as 
he  did  ;  until  you  suffer  for  them  ;  until  you  bear 
them  on  your  very  heart ;  until  you  are  willing,  I  will 
not  say  to  lay  down  your  outward  life,  but  to  give 
your  life  as  a  power  by  which  they  are  to  be  lifted  up. 
And  if  you  are  humble,  gentle,  sincere,  and  earnest, 
and  are  constantly  in  commerce  with  souls,  dealing 
with  them,  persuading  them,  it  will  open  up  a  realm 
of  experience  inexpressibly  sweet  and  rich.  And 
when  a  man  has  once  made  a  beginning  in  this  way, 
the  work  will  become  easier  and  easier. 

The  persons  that  bring  the  most  souls  to  Christ  are 


WORKING  FOR  OTHERS.  293 

not  those  who  have  the  greatest  overt  power  in  the 
world,  but  those  who  are  the  most  gentle,  unassum- 
ing,  earnest,  and  sincere. 

A  man  says,  "  Oh  !  I  am  not  worthy  to  engage  in 
this  work.  I  do  not  live  worthily  enough.  I  am 
ashamed  to  go  to  persons  because  they  will  say, 
'  Who  are  you  ? '  "  What  if  they  do  ?  "  But  they 
know  how  I  live."  Well,  that  fact  will  have  a  power- 
ful influence  in  making  you  live  better.  It  will  not 
hurt  you  nor  hinder  you.  It  may  do  them  good,  and 
it  certainly  will  do  you  good. 

But,  of  all  things,  do  not  fall  into  the  conventional 
way  of  thinking  that  you  must  talk  religion.  You 
have  seen  rich  men  go  about  rattling  their  money  in 
their  pockets.  I  can  remember  standing  and  looking 
at  great,  prosperous  men,  who  used  to  have  their 
grand  hands  grandly  in  their  pockets,  and  rattle  their 
gold  and  silver.  I  thought  they  were  immense.  And 
I  see  men  who  put  their  hands  in  their  spiritual  pock- 
ets, and  rattle,  and  rattle,  and  rattle  their  experience 
in  the  same  way.  They  have  their  little  round  of 
talk  which  they  inflict  upon  everybody.  "  My  friend, 
how  is  your  soul  to-day  ?  What  is  the  state  of  your 
feelings  to-day  ?  How  is  religion  prospering  to-day  ?  " 
It  is  excessively  distasteful  to  me,  and  I  should  think 
it  would  be  to  other  people.  That  is  not  the  thing. 
There  is  more  than  that. 

This  ought  to  be  a  personal  matter.  You  ought  to 
breathe  in  on  persons  as  the  wind  sails  through  the 
lattice  in  summer.  You  ought  to  make  your  pres- 
ence known  to  them  as  the  honeysuckle  by  your 
window  tells  you  it  is  there  by  filling  the  room  with 


294:  LECTURE-ROOBI   TALKS 

its  fragrance.  Go  to  persons  in  your  best  hours.  Go 
to  them  when  you  are  under  the  influence  of  your 
sweetest  experiences.  Go  to  them  when  you  are  un- 
der the  pressure  of  trouble.  Go  to  them  when  the 
world  seems  barren  and  cold.  Go  to  them  when 
those  precious  revelations  come  to  you  which  God  is 
working  through  your  business  and  in  your  heart. 
At  these  times,  speak  a  few  words  to  men.  Not  on  set 
occasions,  not  once  a  year,  or  once  a  month,  or  once 
a  week ;  but  whenever  by  your  business,  or  your  social 
intercourse,  or  any  trouble,  you  are  brought  into  a 
frame  of  mind  in  which  you  can  do  men  good,  then 
go  and  talk  with  them.  One  of  the  most  precious 
forms  of  truth  is  that  which  it  takes  from  the  actual 
experiences  of  the  heart. 

Have  you  heard  of  the  death  of  a  schoolmate  or 
childhood  companion  ?  Does  the  mystery  of  life  and 
the  mystery  of  death  weigh  upon  you  ?  Are  your 
feelings  deeper  ?  Does  the  horizon  of  your  thoughts 
stretch  with  wider  bounds  ?  Employ  that  mood  for 
the  welfare  of  others.  Do  not  waste  it.  Carry  it  to 
your  fellow-men.  God  will  bless  it.  It  will  have 
power  for  their  good  and  yours. 

Have  you  buried  your  own  child  ?  Have  you  laid 
your  own  companion  in  the  grave  ?  Are  you  softened 
by  it  ?  Are  your  feelings  not  only  deeper,  but  more 
solemn  ?  Are  you  more  charitable  and  more  loving  ? 
Take  that  mood,  and  ask  God  to  enable  you  out  of  it 
to  say  some  things  that  shall  help  needy  souls.  Ask 
him  to  assist  you  to  carry  it  so  that  a  gospel  shall 
shine  forth  from  it.  For  these  moods  are  really  parts 
of  the  gospel.     The  truth  as  it  lies  in  the  letter  is  of 


WORKING  FOR   OTHERS.  295 

no  use  till  it  is  quickened  by  the  spirit,  and  it  has  be- 
come an  experience  in  you. 

And  that  you  may  carry  your  moods  so  that  they 
shall  speak  truths  to  your  fellow-men,  and  minister  to 
their  conversion,  watch.  There  is  always  a  time  when 
a  warrior  lies  down  to  rest.  There  is  always  a  time 
when  a  man  takes  off  his  breastplate.  And  that  is 
the  time  to  attack  him.  There  is  also  a  time  when  a 
man  feels  as  though  all  the  world  was  worthless. 
Therefore  be  on  the  watch,  so  as  to  know  when  that 
time  comes,  in  order  that  you  may  take  advantage  of 
his  state  of  mind  to  impress  upon  him  religious  truths. 

We  know  when  to  hunt  birds  and  animals.  The 
books  tell  us  when  they  run,  and  when  they  are  in 
the  best  condition.  We  study  the  habits  of  every 
species  of  game,  that  we  may  be  able  to  take  them  at 
the  right  time.  And  if  we  would  study  men,  if  we 
would  make  ourselves  acquainted  with  their  times  and 
seasons,  if  we  watched  for  them  as  we  do  for  game, 
what  a  difference  it  would  make !  If  in  their  little 
spheres,  and  in  their  circumstances,  all  the  members 
of  a  church  like  this  would  take  their  heart  as  a  torch 
to  light  the  path  of  others,  the  places  would  soon  be 
too  strait  to  hold  the  multitudes  that  would  be 
brought  in.  And  this  would  not  be  the  best  of  it. 
You  would  be  so  advanced  by  such  a  Christian  expe- 
rience, through  the  reaction  of  this  work  upon  your- 
selves, that  year  by  year  you  would  "  grow  in  grace 
and  in  the  knowledge  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus 
Christ."  You  never  will  know  the  feelings  of  God 
till  you  are  doing  the  work  of  God  toward  your  fellow- 
men. 


296  LECTURE-ROOM  TALKS. 


NATURE  AND  BLESSINGS  OF   A   CHRISTIAN 
LIFE. 


HERE  is  no  way  by  wliicli  you  can  walk 
through  life  so  safely  and  so  happily  as  by 
the  road  that  Christ  trod.  To  be  a  Chris- 
tian is  to  be  a  man  in  the  noblest  sense  of 
the  word.  It  is  to  have  the  best  object  that  is  possi- 
ble for  life,  the  best  patterns,  the  best  company,  and 
the  best  joy.  "What  is  the  object  that  a  Christian 
pursues  ?  He  is  sometimes  described  as  one  being 
built  like  a  temple  that  gradually  is  going  up,  and 
being  firmly  established  in  beautiful  proportions,  for 
God  to  dwell  in.  He  is  at  other  times  spoken  of  as 
being  rooted,  or  as  growing,  like  a  tree  that  spreads 
its  branches  and  develops  through  years  till  it  is  the 
sightliest  and  most  beautiful  thing  in  the  vegetable 
kingdom.  He  is  at  other  times  described  as  being  a 
scholar,  and  as  being  taught  in  the  lore  of  God  and 
in  the  laws  of  right  living.  But,  whatever  the  figure 
is,  a  Christian  is  a  man  that  is  living  to  perfect  in  him- 
self a  better  manhood.  He  is  living,  not  to  waste  his 
understanding  either  by  dissipation  or  by  a  selfish  and 
perverse  use  of  it,  but  to  ennoble  and  use  it  for  the 
worthiest  purposes.  He  is  living  to  carry  higher  and 
higher  in  himself  the  moral  sentiments,  —  conscience, 
benevolence,  faith,  hope,  and  love.  He  is  living  so  as 
to  be  better.     There  are  a  great  many  persons  that 


NATURE   AND   BLESSINGS   OF  A   CHRISTIAN   LIFE.    297 

are  living  simply  for  wealth  or  for  honor  or  for  pow- 
er. A  Cliristian  may  have  wealth  and  honor  and 
power ;  but  these  are  not  the  things  that  he  is  living 
for.  He  is  to  become  better  in  every  part  of  his 
being.  The  consequence  is  that  he  takes  the  higliest 
rule  —  that  is,  God's  law  —  to  measure  his  conduct 
and  disposition  by  in  all  the  changes  of  life.  How- 
ever poorly  he  succeeds  here  or  there,  he  still  keeps 
that  standard  before  his  mind,  and  strives  after  it, 
saying,  as  the  Apostle  did,  "  Not  as  though  I  had  al- 
ready attained  ;  I  count  not  myself  to  have  appre- 
hended; but  this  one  thing  I  do,  forgetting  those 
things  which  are  behind,"  —  all  mistakes,  all  stum- 
blings, all  sins,  — "  and  reaching  forth  unto  those 
things  which  are  before,  I  press  toward  the  mark  for 
the  prize  of  the  high  calling  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus." 
Now,  to  live  for  the  ennobling  of  one's  self  inwardly 
in  consistence  with  the  laws  of  God,  —  that  is  to  live 
for  the  best  object ;  and  he  who  lives  thus  has  the  best 
Guide.  The  most  lenient,  the  most  charitable,  the 
most  forbearing,  the  most  patient,  the  most  loving  of 
all  guides  is  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Those  who  fol- 
low him  are  being  built  up  into  the  stature  of  perfect 
men  in  Jesus  Christ.  And  the  inspiration,  the  joy, 
the  settled  peace,  that  at  times  come  into  the  soul  from 
a  conscious  faith  in  Christ,  an  utter  trust  in  him,  is 
the  best  company,  as  well  as  the  best  friend,  that  one 
can  have.  Christian  brethren,  you  are  witnesses  that 
there  is  not  such  enjoyment  in  the  world  as  there 
is  in  the  church.  Here  and  there  you  shall  find 
churches  that  are  not  true  to  their  calling ;  here  and 
there  you  shall  find  churches  that  are  dead  and  dry, 

13* 


298  LECTURE-ROOM   TALKS. 

and  that  do  not  show  leaf  or  blossom  or  fruit.  But 
taking  them  at  large,  if  you  ask  Christian  men  that 
have  enjoyed  most  in  this  world,  what  their  greatest 
joys  have  sprung  from,  I  think  it  will  be  found  that 
they  have  sprung  from  those  friendships  which  have 
grown  up  in  the  church  in  connection  with  religious 
feelings  and  labors.  And  it  is  these  joys  that  are 
most  enduring.  The  enjoyments  of  an  evening  in  an 
exhilarating  social  meeting,  when  you  look  back  upon 
them,  though  you  do  not  reproach  yourself,  you  re- 
gard as  transient  and  perishable ;  but,  on  the  other 
hand,  when  you  look  back  upon  the  enjoyments  that 
arise  from  fellowship  in  the  church,  in  memory  they 
are  as  sweet  as  when  they  were  experienced,  and 
sometimes  even  sweeter.  The  recollection  of  meet- 
ings that  I  have  attended  here,  participating  in  prayer, 
and  singing,  and  religious  intercourse,  grows  brighter 
and  brighter  instead  of  diminishing;  and  I  go  back 
to  the  revivals  that  have  taken  place  in  this  church, 
one  after  another,  as  the  brightest  events  of  my  life. 
And  hundreds  of  our  number  will  bear  the  same  wit- 
ness. The  joys  of  the  soul  are  joys  that  never  will 
wear  out.  They  are  topics  that  ever  interest.  There 
is  no  friendship  so  pure  and  so  unsullied  as  that  which 
is  formed  by  Christians  while  they  travel  together 
homeward  toward  Zion. 

I  say  these  things  for  the  comfort  and  consolation 
of  all,  to  bring  out  the  testimony  of  Christian  breth- 
ren, and  because  I  have  the  strongest  dislike  to  hold- 
ing up  before  those  who  are  entering  the  kingdom  of 
God  the  idea  that  they  are  entering  into  darkness  and 
trouble. 


BACK  AGAIN.  299 


BACK   AGAIN.* 


HEN  I  am  once  back  with  you  in  the  prayer- 
meeting,  I  feel  as  though  I  had  got  home. 
The  communion  of  prayer  is  the  most  en- 
during of  all  intercourse.  There  are  no 
attachments  that  come  from  elective  affinities  and 
from  personal  similarities,  that  can  compare,  in  depth 
and  preciousness  and  enduringness,  with  the  friend- 
ships which  spring  up  among  those  who  meet  around 
the  throne  of  grace.  Having  Christ  in  our  midst 
brings  down  upon  us  the  preciousness  of  Christ.  We 
learn  to  see  each  other  in  the  light  of  his  countenance, 
and  to  associate  with  each  other  our  own  higher  spir- 
itual joys  in  such  a  way  that  more  than  the  love  of 
kindred  is  the  love  which  a  common  faith  and  a  com- 
mon holy  service  beget. 

Every  one  who  ever  labored  in  a  revival  of  religion 
remembers  how  precious,  all  his  life  long,  they  were 
who  were  most  with  him,  and  who  seemed  to  him 
most  like  the  Master.  How  those  who  have  been 
born  into  the  Christian  life  remember  those  who  were 
with  them  in  strait  and  trial,  and  those  who  were  born 
at  the  same  time  !  What  a  subtle  and  enduring 
charm  there  is  in  the  memory  of  those  persons  who 
joined  the  church  on  the  same  day  that  we  did  ! 
Precious  is  the  pastor's  name  wont  to  be  by  whom  we 
were  succored  and  brought  out  of  darkness  into  light 
through  Jesus  Christ. 

*  Friday  evening,  October  1,  1869. 


300  LECTURE-ROOM   TALKS. 

So  it  comes  to  pass  that  in  the  Christian  household 
we  begin  to  taste  the  joys  of  a  superior  affection,  and 
to  learn  that  in  God's  house  and  in  his  service,  even 
upon  the  earth,  there  is  a  higher  relish  than  the  most 
congenial  friendships  or  the  most  ardent  loves  can 
give.  Christ's  love  is  more  than  all  others,  and 
when  it  sanctifies  our  love  makes  it  exceedingly 
precious. 

And  so  churches  should  be  schools  of  friendship. 
To  a  very  large  extent  they  are.  This  church  has 
been.  It  is  impossible  that  there  should  be  in  every 
member  the  knowledge  of  every  other  member.  To 
suppose  that  we  could  form  two  thousand  intimacies 
would  be  absurd.  So  large  a  membership  compels  us 
to  break  up  into  circles ;  and  the  members  of  the 
church  find  in  those  that  are  near  them,  and  next 
to  them,  their  appropriate  sympathizers  and  compan- 
ions. And  yet,  there  is  such  a  general  interest  one  in 
another,  that  if  you  were  to  meet,  on  a  foreign  shore 
or  in  a  remote  part  of  our  own  land,  one  that  you 
knew  to  be  a  member  of  Plymouth  Church,  though 
you  had  never  spoken  to  him,  your  heart  would 
go  out  toward  him,  and  you  would  feel,  "  He  is  my 
kindred."  God  has  so  blessed  our  tarrying  together, 
that  many  of  us  are  more  to  each  other  than  brothers 
and  sisters  are. 

I  remember  my  first  coming  here.  I  remember 
every  constituent  name  in  the  formation  of  this 
church.  I  remember  those  who  stood  around  about 
me  in  the  early  revivals  of  religion  here,  when  we 
went  into  the  great  battle  of  the  Lord.  Exceedingly 
precious  are  their  memories,  as  well  as  the  memories 


BACK   AGAIN.  301 

of  those  who  have  gone  from  us  that  they  might  be 
■with  Jesus. 

And  now  we  begin  another  term  together.  My 
dear  Christian  brethren,  I  feel  to-night  anxious  to  say 
but  a  single  word  ;  and  that  is,  to  express  the  hope 
that  we  may  strive  to  serve  God  this  year,  not  as  we 
have  in  years  before,  but  with  a  higher  relish,  with  a 
better  mind.     I  will  tell  you  what  I  mean  by  that. 

I  am  sorry  to  say  that  there  is  a  great  deal  of  re- 
ligion which  is  not  gentlemanly.  It  is  neither  refined, 
nor  generous,  nor  magnanimous.  I  see  a  great  deal 
of  religion  which  I  consider  dragooned  religion.  It  is 
a  poor,  compulsory,  starveling  tiling.  I  never  hear  any- 
body pray  who  I  believe  is  afraid  not  to,  that  I  do  not 
think,  "  God  does  not  thank  you  for  your  prayers." 
I  never  see  persons  come  to  meeting  when  I  think 
they  wish  they  could  stay  away,  but  suppose  they 
must  come,  that  I  do  not  say  to  myself,  "  God  docs 
not  thank  them  for  coming."  That  must  destroys 
the  whole  of  it,  in  my  regard. 

Suppose  I  should  hear  a  company  of  young  gentle- 
men saying  among  themselves,  "  How  long  is  it  since 
we  have  been  to  see  Mr.  Beecher  ?  Why,  it  has  been 
ever  so  long  !  We  all  understand  that  it  is  a  disagree- 
able task;  but  then,  we  ought  to  go.  It  looks  badly. 
What  will  he  think  ?  It  will  interfere  with  our  pros- 
pects. Let  us  go  and  be  done  with  it !  "  Do  you 
suppose  I  would  open  my  door  very  cheerfully  to  let 
anybody  in  who  felt  in  that  way  ?  If  they  do  not 
want  to  come,  I  do  not  want  they  should.  I  may 
wish  they  desired  to  come  ;  but  if  they  do  not,  I 
have  no  desire  to  see  them. 


302  LECTURE-ROOM   TALES. 

Do  you  suppose  God  wants  anybody  to  come  to 
him  who  does  not  want  to,  who  comes  grudgingly 
and  reluctantly  ?  If  there  is  ever  a  time  that  a  heart 
should  render  willing  and  cheerful  service,  it  is  when 
a  soul  that  professes  to  love  Christ,  and  owes  his  hope 
of  immortality  to  him,  comes  into  his  presence. 

One  of  the  Mosaic  commands  was  that  men  should 
bring  for  sacrifice  and  offering  only  their  very  best 
things.  No  blighted  heads  of  wheat  would  do.  If, 
going  out,  a  man  should  say,  "  I  must  offer  a  sacrifice 
to-day,  and  here  is  a  lamb  tliat,  though  it  is  not  a  very 
good  one,  will  do  for  a  sacrifice,"  the  old  lawgiver 
said,  "  No  ;  you  shall  not  offer  anything  that  has  a 
blemish.  If  you  are  going  to  offer  God  anything,  you 
must  pick  the  very  best  things  you  have,  —  the  best 
of  the  wheat,  the  best  of  the  olives,  the  best  of  the 
doves,  the  best  of  the  lambs."  Nothing  but  the  best 
was  fit  for  God.  I  was  always  thankful  for  that.  It 
held  up  a  generous  idea  that  must  have  affected  the 
Jewish  service  all  through. 

It  should  be  precisely  so  with  us.  Nothing  is  fit 
for  us  to  serve  God  with  but  our  very  best  things. 
For  instance,  if  one  hour  of  the  day  is  clearer  and 
more  radiant  than  any  other,  you  must  not  say, 
"  There,  I  cannot  spare  that  hour ;  for  my  business  is 
very  perplexing,  and  this  is  an  hour  when  I  can  see 
daylight  through  these  complex  matters  ;  but  when  I 
get  back  at  nighl,  and  am  so  tired  that  I  cannot  at- 
tend to  business,  I  will  pray."  God  will  not  thank 
you  for  the  parings,  the  peelings,  the  chaff,  the  shucks, 
of  your  time.  If  there  is  an  hour  when  your  thoughts 
are  clearer  and  your  affections  are  stronger  than  at 


BACK  AGAIN.  303 

any  other  time,  take  that  hour  for  God.  I  should  be 
ashamed  to  say  that  if  you  do  this  you  will  more  than 
get  your  pay  back  again,  though  you  will.  I  would 
exhort  you,  rather,  to  do  it  because  it  is  fit,  generous, 
and  noble. 

Serve  God  with  your  best  faculties.  Serve  him  not 
only  with  the  best  times  and  seasons,  but  with  the 
best  feelings  that  you  have.  You  never  serve  God 
well  when  you  serve  him  with  fear.  There  is  a  fear 
that  is  enjoined  upon  us  ;  but  there  is  another  fear 
from  which  we  are  dissuaded,  —  the  fear  of  the  bond- 
slave, the  fear  of  the  prisoner.  There  is  a  filial  fear 
which  consists  of  that  apprehension  which  love  always 
has  that  it  will  not  please,  and  that  fear  we  are  to 
feel  in  the  presence  of  God  ;  but  that  other  fear  is 
not  the  right  feeling  to  serve  God  with. 

We  are  to  have  "  a  conscience  void  of  offence  to- 
ward God  and  toward  men"  ;  but  conscience  is  not 
the  highest  faculty.  An  unfearing  faith,  a  faith  that 
works  by  love  and  its  concomitant  feelings,  these  are 
the  states  of  mind  in  which  we  should  serve  our  dear 
Saviour  from  day  to  day.  And  that  we  may,  we  are 
to  take  care  that  we  keep  our  most  royal  hours  and 
our  most  golden  moods  for  his  service. 

If  I  were  to  come  to  your  house  by  chance,  and  you 
were  at  work  in  your  kitchen,  I  should  hope  that  you 
would  be  ladies  and  gentlemen  enough  not  to  apolo- 
gize. I  always  have  a  poor  opinion  of  people  who, 
when  I  find  them  at  work  in  the  kitchen,  are  agitated, 
and  say,  "  I  beg  your  pardon.  If  I  had  known  you 
were  coming,  I  would  not  have  been  found  here  ! " 
That  is  where  you  ought  to  be ;  and  you  need  not  be 


304  LECTURE-ROOM  TALKS. 

ashamed,  nor  apologize.  It  is  for  you,  rather  than 
against  you. 

But  if  you  had  invited  me  to  your  house  that  you 
might  show  me  some  favor,  and  you  were  expecting 
me,  I  should  not  expect  that  you  would  invite  me  into 
the  kitchen,  or  tlie  garret,  or  the  cellar,  but  into  your 
best  room,  if  it  had  not  been  opened  before  for  a  year. 
I  should  expect  that  you  would  provide  your  table 
with  your  very  best  things.  Not  that  it  is  necessary 
for  friendship  to  have  eating  and  drinking ;  but  the 
preparing  our  best  things  is  a  testimony  and  symbol- 
ization  of  our  desire  and  feeling  toward  our  friends. 

If  we  do  this  toward  those  whom  we  esteem  among 
our  fellow-men,  we  certainly  ought  to  do  it  toward  our 
Saviour.  We  ought  to  invite  him.  into  the  best  room 
that  there  is  in  our  heart.  We  ought  not  to  put  him 
off  with  a  poor  apartment.  Nor  should  we  furnish 
him  with  mean  or  indifferent  meals.  Whatever  tlie 
soul  can  give  in  its  best  moods,  that  belongs  to  Jesus 
Christ. 

Indeed,  I  think  we  ought  to  live  in  our  best  rooms 
ourselves  a  good  deal  more  than  we  do.  We  owe  it 
to  ourselves  and  our  children  that  we  use  the  best 
things  we  have  in  the  house.  Live  as  well  as  you  can, 
and  accustom  your  children  to  as  good  living  as  you 
can  afford  them.  At  any  rate,  in  spiritual  house- 
keeping this  is  eminently  desirable.  Christians  should 
live  in  the  best  rooms  that  their  souls  contain,  be- 
cause Christ  comes  to  them  every  day,  and  they  should 
be  ready  at  all  times  to  receive  him. 

Not  that  we  do  not  have  edifying  and  excellent 
meetings  ;  but  we  ought  to  have  still  more  precious 


BACK  AGAIN.  305 

meetings.  One  great  trouble  about  prayer-meetings 
is  that  people  come  to  them  from  their  workshops,  — 
not  literally,  but  figuratively.  One  comes  with  all  the 
savor  of  the  store  on  him.  Another  comes  with  all 
the  thouglits  and  associations  of  his  office  about  him. 
Another  comes  with  all  his  desires  and  ambitions  still 
throbbing  in  him.  Many  of  you,  instead  of  bringing 
those  influences  which  fill  the  room  with  rich  and 
blessed  associations,  bring  discords  or  icicles.  If  you 
lived  more  in  your  higher  feelings  ;  if  that  was  where 
you  loved  to  live  ;  if,  the  moment  the  world  let  go,  your 
mind  sprang  back  into  the  higher  and  better  spheres 
of  your  experience,  —  then,  when  we  came  together, 
the  hour  would  not  be  long  enough  for  the  singing, 
and  prayer,  and  discussion,  and  mingling  of  joy.  But 
we  live  too  meanly  before  we  come ;  and  then  we 
come  like  a  crowd  of  beggars,  bringing  our  rags.  Even 
that  is  better  than  nothing ;  it  is  better  to  go  to  prayer- 
meeting  to  get  set  up  than  not  to  go  at  all ;  it  is  bet- 
ter to  kindle  yourself  by  the  warmth  of  another  man's 
fire  than  not  to  be  kindled.  But  how  much  better  it 
would  be  if  more  of  us,  as  the  time  of  meeting  comes 
round,  would  dwell  in  the  spirit  of  the  Lord  all  day 
long,  so  that  we  might  meet  full  of  tender  suggestions, 
and  sweet  memories,  and  holy  impulses,  and  sympa- 
thetic desires,  and  the  spirit  of  prayer !  If  we  lived 
better  out  of  the  prayer-meetings,  we  should  have 
more  glorious  times  in  them.  So  there  would  be 
action  and  reaction.  Good  lives  out-of-doors  would 
make  good  meetings,  and  good  meetings  would  make 
good  lives  out-of-doors.  They  would  help  each  other, 
backwarcj  and  forward. 


306  LECTURE-ROOM  TALKS. 

Now,  Christian  brethren,  in  the  year  that  is  open- 
ing before  us,  it  seems  to  me  that  while  we  are  to  live 
for  the  awakening  of  men,  for  the  succor  of  men  that 
are  perishing,  for  the  salvation  of  souls  that  are  ready 
to  perish,  we  ought  to  pray  that  our  power  to  do  good 
may  lie  in  the  quality  and  intensity  of  our  own  spir- 
itual life.  Whatever  makes  you  better  will  make  you 
more  useful.  Whatever  leads  you  to  live  higher, 
nearer  to  Christ,  with  a  serener  faith,  with  truer  love, 
with  more  unflagging  zeal,  will  make  you  a  more  able 
minister  among  the  lost  and  perishing. 

May  God  bless  us  in  the  year  upon  which  we  are 
just  entering !  October  is  our  January.  We  begin 
our  new  church  year  the  last  of  September  or  the 
first  of  October.  And  what  a  beautiful  month  October 
is  in  which  to  begin  !  It  is  the  opal  month  of  the 
year.  It  is  the  month  of  glory,  of  ripeness.  I  love 
to  think  that  when  the  summer,  with  all  its  fulness 
of  innate  beauty,  has  gone  through  its  course,  and  is 
about  to  die,  it  knows  how  to  break  out  with  more 
gorgeous  beauty,  and  die  with  more  glory  on  its  head 
than  it  had  in  its  positive  freshness  and  vernal  beauty. 
And  so  it  should  be  with  Christians.  They  should  be 
bright  and  beautiful  through  all  their  youthful  life, 
and  gorgeous  as  they  grow  old  and  are  about  to  step 
into  the  kingdom  of  God's  glory. 

We  begin  again,  in  this  picture  month,  in  this 
month  of  the  revelation  of  God's  glory  in  the  outward 
world  about  us,  to  pray  and  work,  with  the  hope  that 
we  shall  rise  by  and  by  into  that  resplendent  land 
from  whence  we  shall  go  out  no  more  forever. 


YOUR  FATHER  KNOWETH.  307 


YOUR  FATHER  KNOWETH.* 

HAVE  sometimes  had  persons  ask  me, 
"  What  portions  of  the  Bible  are  most  de- 
lightful to  you  ?  "  I  am  reminded  of  the 
answer  to  a  question  once  propounded  to 
Daniel  Webster.  He  was  a  great  reader  of  Shake- 
speare's plays,  and  was  asked  which  he  liked  best.  He 
replied  instantly,  "  The  one  that  I  read  last."  It  is 
very  much  so  with  Scripture.  That  portion  which  dis- 
tils as  the  dew  from  heaven  upon  the  thirsty  soul  seems 
for  the  time  the  most  precious  of  all  Scripture ;  and 
which  part  it  is  will  depend  very  much  upon  the  want 
of  the  man's  own  feeling,  or  heart-life. 

In  times  of  deep  despondency,  there  now  and  then 
flash  out  from  passages  of  God's  Word  truths  which 
were  never  suspected  before.  They  are  searching. 
They  really  enter  into  our  experience.  So  that  many 
a  person  has  thought,  almost,  that  certain  parts  must 
have  been  written  for  him.  I  have  known  persons  to 
go  and  read  passages  to  their  friends,  and  say,  "  Does 
this  strike  you  as  it  does  me  ?  "  It  seems  to  them  that 
there  is  a  revelation.  If  one  is  suffering  from  a  very 
cutting  bereavement,  there  sometimes  spring  up,  out  of 
God's  Word,  passages  the  meaning  of  which  he  never 
knew  before.  And  what  is  more  remarkable,  the  same 
passage  will  comfort  a  person  two  or  three  times,  and 
it  will  seem  as  though  each  time  was  the  first  that  it 

*  Friday  evening,  October  8,  1869. 


308  LECTURE-ROOM   TALKS. 

ever  comforted  him.  There  is  nothing  so  fresh  and 
original  as  a  grief  or  a  strong  emotion  of  the  soul ; 
and  it  makes  everything  that  fits  it  seem  perfectly 
original  too. 

Bat  it  was  not  this  that  I  wished  to  talk  about.  I 
was  going  to  say  that  one  of  the  always  juicy  and  ripe 
clusters,  to  my  mind,  which  hang  out  of  the  Scriptures, 
is  that  passage  which  fell  from  the  lips  of  our  Master 
himself :  "  For  your  heavenly  Father  knoweth  that  ye 
have  need  of  all  these  things."  I  love  to  repeat  that 
one  phrase,  your  heavenly  Father  hnoiveth.  Nobody 
else  knows  as  God  knows.  He  knows  hundreds  of 
things  that  nobody  else  can  know.  He  knows  many 
things  that  nobody  else  ought  to  know.  He  knows 
many  experiences  that  you  will  not  tell,  and  many 
that  you  do  not  understand.  Naked  and  open  are  you 
before  Him  with  whom  you  have  to  do.  There  is  no  sor- 
row so  deep,  there  is  no  darkness  so  profound,  there 
is  no  complication  of  circumstances  so  entangling, 
but  that  you  may  say,  "  There  is  nothing  that  affects 
me  which  my  heavenly  Father  does  not  know." 

If  you  will  take  notice  of  the  whole  passage,  you 
will  see  that  our  Saviour  was  saying  to  them,  "  Do  not 
be  anxious ;  and  through  a  spirit  of  excessive  anxiety 
do  not  be  saying,  all  the  time,  '  How  shall  I  get  a  liv- 
ing?'"—  for  that  is  the  meaning  of  the  questions, 
"  What  shall  we  eat,  what  shall  we  drink,  and  where- 
withal shall  we  be  clothed  ?  "  "  Do  not,"  said  he, "  give 
yourself  any  concern  ;  for  your  heavenly  Father  know- 
eth that  ye  have  need  of  all  these  things."  When  men 
think  of  God's  taking  care  of  time  and  eternity,  they 
arc  apt  to  feci  that  he  has  on  hand  so  much  more  ira- 


YOUR   FATHER   KNOWKTH.  3 (J 9 

portant  business  than  our  clothes  and  our  bread-and- 
butter  that  he  scarcely  can  be  expected  to  pay  much 
attention  to  these  things.  They  are  apt  to  think, 
therefore,  that  he  remits  to  natural  law  the  care  of 
physical  tilings,  which  are  scarcely  worthy  of  his  own 
special  thought.  But  God  is  the  most  minute  house- 
keeper in  the  universe.  Nobody  else  knows  so  well  as 
he  what  is  needed  for  the  meal  and  for  the  wardrobe. 
Nobody  else  knows  so  well  as  he  what  the  till  has  in 
it.  Nobody  else  knows  so  well  as  he  about  rent  and 
fuel.  Nobody  else  knows  so  well  as  he  about  the  body. 
He  attends  to  the  physical  wants  of  his  creatures.  He 
is  a  father  to  us  in  these  respects.  And  it  was  appar- 
ently with  this  thought  that  Christ  was  pleased  to  say, 
"  Your  heavenly  Father  knoweth  that  ye  have  need 
of  all  these  things." 

If  in  regard  to  your  great  religions  experiences,  in 
which  your  souls  were  stirred  with  emotion,  Christ 
had  said,  "  God  knows  about  them,"  you  would  have 
said, "  Yes,  they  are  worthy  of  the  Divine  knowledge  "  : 
but  when  our  Saviour  goes  down  to  the  lowest  point 
and  takes  the  minimum  of  life ;  when  he  goes  down 
to  those  things  which  pertain  to  the  every-day  using 
and  every-day  consumption  of  this  life,  and  says, 
"  Your  heavenly  Father  knoweth  that  ye  have  need 
of  all  these  things,  so  do  not  be  troubled  about  them," 
—  you  do  not  understand  how  it  can  be.  But  the 
declaration  stands,  and  we  might  as  well  accept  it. 

And  if  he  knows  about  these  things,  how  much 
more  may  he  be  supposed  to  know  about  things  that 
concern  you  at  every  step  upward,- — about  your  af- 
fections,   about   your   religious    beliefs,    about    your 


310  LECTURE-ROOM  TALKS. 

anxieties  and  doubts,  about  your  temptations,  about 
your  sins  and  your  trials  in  sinning,  about  your  re- 
pentances, about  your  aspirations,  about  everytliing 
that  belongs  to  Christian  life,  or  to  a  life  that  is  trying 
to  be  Christian ! 

That  sentence  hangs  in  the  heavens  like  a  bell,  to  me ; 
and  every  time  I  take  hold  of  it,  it  is  like  a  sexton's  tak- 
ing hold  of  the  old  church-bell.  If  I  pull  it,  it  rings,  — 
and  I  hear  it  every  time,  — "  Your  heavenly  Father 
knoweth  that  ye  have  need  of  all  these  things." 
There  is  no  part  of  your  experience  about  which  you 
need  be  afraid  to  stand  and  say,  "  God  knows  it." 

It  is  not  that  God  merely  knows  those  things  as  I 
know  a  thousand  things  when  I  read  my  morning 
paper,  running  my  eye  along  column  after  column  of 
advertisements,  knowing  that  they  are  there,  and  hav- 
ing a  general  perception  of  what  they  are,  but  not 
caring  a  farthing  for  them.  That  is  not  the  way  that 
God  knows.  And  this  passage  is  an  argument  to  re- 
lieve from  care  and  suffering  those  who  trust  in  God. 
Our  Saviour  says,  "  Even  those  things  which  seem 
least  likely  to  come  under  God's  attention  —  your 
clothes  and  bread  —  your  heavenly  Father  knows 
about ;  so  do  not  be  anxious." 

A  child  says  to  its  father,  "  Mother  says  we  have  no 
bread  in  the  house,  and  it  is  Saturday  night."  "  But, 
my  child,"  says  the  father,  "  I  know  all  about  that ; 
do  not  trouble  yourself."  And  what  does  the  child 
understand  but  this,  —  "I  know;  I  have  arranged 
for  it ;  there  is  no  occasion  for  anxiety." 

I  recollect  going,  once,  with  my  father,  a  trout-fish- 
ing.    I  went  with  him  many  times,  but  I  have  a  spe- 


YOUR  FATHER  KNOWETH.  311 

cial  recollection  of  this  time.  After  riding  a  mile  or 
two,  we  came  into  a  road  that  was  unfamiliar  to  me. 
There  we  stopped,  and  father  hitched  his  horse, —  that 
was  always  safe  to  be  hitched  !  He  then  gathered  up 
his  rod  and  line,  and  we  started  across  the  field.  My 
little  soul  was  not  big  enough  to  hold  the  pleasure 
that  I  had  in  going  with  father  to  fish,  and  I  ran  and 
capered  on  behind  him,  and  behaved  myself  quite  like 
a  little  dog. 

Father  went  on  throwing  his  line,  without  paying 
much  attention  to  me.  He  was  a  natural-born  fisher- 
man, and  he  never  threw  his  line  in  vain.  When  we 
had  got  across  the  first  meadow,  and  wei'e  climbing 
over  the  fence  into  the  second  one,  a  strange  fear 
came  over  me.  We  were  in  an  out-of-the  way  place, 
and  I  did  not  know  tlie  way  home  ;  and  the  thought 
of  being  lost  frightened  me.  But  I  looked  back  and 
could  see  the  carriage- top,  and  that  dispelled  my  fears. 
So  long  as  I  could  see  the  old  chaise-top,  I  had  no 
trouble  in  trusting  my  father.  And  there  arc  many 
people  who  can  trust  God  so  long  as  they  can  sec 
their  way  before  them. 

But  by  and  by  we  got  so  far  that  I  could  not  see  the 
chaise-top  ;  and  then  my  fear  returned,  and  I  said, 
"  Pa,  do  you  know  tlie  way  home  ?  "  "  Yes,"  he 
said,  and  did  not  pay  much  attention  to  mo.  Tliat 
made  me  feel  a  little  better,  and  I  got  along  very  well 
till  we  came  to  the  third  fence,  when  my  fears  were 
stronger  than  before,  and  I  came  up  to  father  again, 
and  said,  "  Pa,  do  you  hioiv  the  ivay  home  ?  "  "  Yes," 
said  he  ;  but  it  scarcely  crossed  his  mind  what  the 
meaning  of  it  was.     I  was  comforted  once  more,  and 


312  LECTLTEE-ROOM   TALKS. 

I  went  on  pitapat,  pitapat,  again,  my  heart  going  pita- 
pat all  the  time  too,  until  we  came  to  still  another 
fence,  where  there  was  a  kind  of  thicket,  when  I 
could  not  stand  it  any  longer,  and  with  tears  on  my 
face  I  cried  out,  "  Pa,  do  you  know  the  way  home  ?  " 
He  turned  round  and  put  his  arms  about  me,  and 
said,  "  Why,  Henry !  I  am  ashamed  of  you.  Yes,  I 
know  the  way  home.  Do  you  suppose  I  would  take 
you  where  I  did  not  know  the  way  ?  "  And  he  patted 
me  on  the  head,  and  parted  the  hair  on  my  forehead  ; 
and  I  was  perfectly  content  after  that. 

Now,  we  are  following  after  our  heavenly  Father  in 
about  the  same  way.  So  long  as  we  can  see  the  car- 
riage-top we  feel  safe  ;  but  when  there  are  no  land- 
marks by  which  we  can  distinguish  our  course,  we  be- 
come frightened,  and  grow  short  of  breath,  and  say, 
"  Lord,  dost  thou  know  the  way  ?  "  And  he  says, 
"  Yes,  your  heavenly  Father  knoweth."  And  we  are 
comforted  for  a  little  time.  But  by  and  by,  when  we 
come  where  it  is  thicker  and  thicker,  and  our  fears 
return,  and  increase,  we  break  down,  and  with  tears 
say,  "  Lord,  dost  thou  know  the  way  ?  "  And  then  his 
Spirit,  with  infinite  tenderness  and  graciousness,  puts 
its  arms  about  us,  and  says,  "  Your  heavenly  Father 
knoweth  perfectly." 

Well,  how  far  may  you  carry  that  trust  ?  Just  as 
far  as  you  can  carry  life.  It  is  a  good  thing  to  have 
sight.  That  helps  faith.  But  there  are  emergencies 
in  every  man's  life  in  which  he  can  neither  have  sight, 
nor  memory,  nor  experience.  You  must  trust  God, 
not  because  you  see  the  law  by  which  he  is  going  to 
help  you,  but  simply  because  he  is  your  Father.     And 


YOUR   FATHER   KNOWETH.  313 

you  will  never  hear  it  better  expressed  than  it  was  by 
him  of  old,  who  said,  "  Though  He  slay  me,  yet  will  I 
trust  in  him."  That  is  a  tenet  that  will  bear  a  man 
through  almost  everything.  There  is  no  difficulty, 
there  is  no  sorrow,  there  is  no  threat  in  the  future, 
there  is  no  impending  trouble,  that  caimot  be  van- 
quished by  the  thought,  "  I  know  that  my  Redeemer 
liveth,  and  I  know  that  my  Father  knoweth." 


14 


314  LECTURE-ROOM   TALKS. 


NEARNESS   TO   GOD.* 

Q.  Is  it  not  mockery  for  us  to  sing  the  hymn  which  we  have 
just  sung  ["  Nearer  to  Thee  "],  and  which  is  a  prayer  that  we 
may  be  nearer  to  God,  unless  we  really  want  to  be  nearer  to  him  ? 


HIS  hymn,  quite  aside  from  its  general  ef- 
fect, which  is  inspiriting,  comforting,  hope- 
inspiring,  has,  all  the  way  through,  a  supplica- 
tory character.     It  expresses  a  yearning  for 
nearness  to  God. 

"  Blessed  are  the  pure  in  heart ;  for  they  shall  see 
God."  But  no  man  is  pure,  any  more  than  gold  in 
the  natural  state  is  pure  when  it  is  mixed  with  a 
great  deal  of  quartz  and  dirt.  And  as  gold  has  to  be 
stamped  and  ground  and  smelted  before  it  can  be 
extricated  from  its  natural  bondage,  so  no  person  ever 
yet  came  near  to  God  while  in  his  natural  condition. 
If  we  come  near  to  him,  it  must  be  by  hard,  though 
blessed,  dealing. 

Now  there  are  many  who  want  the  nearness,  but 
who  do  not  want  the  dealing.  They  want  the  presence 
of  God,  and  the  joy  of  his  salvation ;  but  they  do  not 
want  the  steps  by  which  these  things  are  ordinarily 
secured.  So  that  when  persons  pray  that  they  may 
be  nearer  to  God,  I  sometimes  think  it  is  as  if  a  bal- 
loon that  has  been  inflated,  but  that  is  held  down 
with  cords,  should  grow  very  tired,  and  pray  for  re- 
lease to  the  god  of  the  air.     The  balloon  pleads,  "  Let 

*  Friday  evening,  October  22,  1869. 


NEARNESS   TO   GOD.  315 

me  ascend"  ;  and,  in  response,  one  cord  is  loosened, 
and  then  another,  and  another  ;  and  at  the  loosening 
of  each  cord  the  balloon  groans  ;  and  by  and  by,  as  it 
begins  to  go  up,  it  says,  "  Not  that !  I  did  not  mean 
that."  It  wants  to  go  up ;  and  yet  it  does  not  want 
to  leave  the  ground  ! 

I  have  heard  persons  pray  God  to  bring  them  nearer 
to  him  ;  and  when  he  commenced  to  answer  their 
prayer,  and  struck  at  vanity,  or  some  other  one  of  the 
cords  that  bound  them  ignobly  low,  they  went  back  to 
him  in  prayer,  and  said,  "  Lord,  why  is  tliis  ?  Why 
am  I  persecuted  and  treated  so  ?  Am  I  worse  than 
other  men,  that  I  should  be  so  dealt  with  ?  "  There 
is  no  voice  from  heaven  ;  but  if  there  were,  it  might 
reply,  "  Did  you  not  pray  to  be  brought  nearer  to  me  ? 
and  is  not  this  which  I  have  smitten  the  very  hin- 
drance that  has  kept  you  from  me  ?  " 

A  man  beseeches  God  not  to  let  the  world  go  over 
him,  but  to  lift  him  up  to  enjoy  his  salvation  forever. 
The  idol  which  he  worships  is  Mammon  ;  and  God 
seeks  to  win  him  from  it.  But  when  he  will  not  be 
won  from  it,  God  breaks  his  idol,  and  all  his  prosperity 
seems  to  be  overwhelmed  ;  and  he  goes  to  God  in  the 
utmost  perturbation,  and  prays  that  he  will  reveal  the 
mystery  of  this  dealing.  And  yet,  is  it  anything  but 
the  answer  to  his  prayer  ?  He  prayed  for  that  which 
could  be  had  only  by  certain  courses ;  but  he  does 
not  want  the  courses. 

A  sick  child  wants  to  get  well ;  but  when  he  tastes 
the  bitter  medicine  he  does  not  want  to  take  that.  A 
sluggard  longs  for  riches,  but  he  does  not  want  in- 
dustry.    An  intemperate  man  wants  to  be  temperate, 


316  LECTURE-ROOM   TALKS. 

but  he  cannot  give  up  the  cup.  And  so  men,  in 
prayer,  from  day  to  day  are  asking  God  for  that 
which,  wlien  he  is  disposed  to  give  it,  they  resist,  and 
put  away,  and  do  not  want. 

A  man,  seeing  how  far  from  God  the  whole  world 
is,  and  how  crooked  affairs  are,  asks  God  to  make 
affairs  straight,  and  bring  the  world  more  to  himself. 
Soon  God  strikes  right  through  liis  courses  of  life, 
and  what  a  joint-racking  there  is  !  You  might  almost 
as  well  ask  for  an  earthquake  under  your  house,  as  to 
pray  to  God,  "  Thy  will  be  done." 

God  is  good  to  us  in  that  he  does  not  answer  our 
prayers  suddenly.  We  could  not  bear  to  have  the 
answer  given  all  at  once  ;  so  he  administers  it  little 
by  little,  tempering  his  administration  to  our  weak- 
ness and  necessity.  This  praying  for  grace,  for  near- 
ness, and  for  elevation  of  soul,  is  glorious,  but  it  is 
dangerous.    You  do  not  know  how  God  will  take  you. 

Domestic  animals  deal  with  tlieir  young  very  much 
as  God  deals  with  us.  When  a  cat  of  mine  had  little 
kittens,  and  we  went  to  look  at  them,  she  was  dis- 
turbed to  think  we  knew  where  they  were,  and,  de- 
termined to  convey  them  to  some  other  place  where 
tliey  would  be  safe,  took  hold  of  them,  one  after  an- 
other, by  the  neck,  and,  after  seven  or  eight  moutli- 
ings,  to  get  hold  so  that  the  teeth  would  not  hurt, 
carried  them  off  to  the  barn,  and  hid  them.  And 
these  kittens,  if  they  could  have  reasoned,  might  have 
thought  it  was  rather  rough  treatment. 

Now  God  sometimes  takes  us,  as  it  were,  by  the 
neck,  with  the  teeth  of  his  providence,  and  we  cry  out 
as  if  we  thought  we  were  going  to  be  devoured.     We 


NEARNESS   TO   GOD.  317 

think  we  are  in  the  jaws  of  a  dragon,  when  we  are 
only  under  the  dealings  of  our  Heavenly  Father.  And 
when  the  work  has  been  completed,  and  we  have  been 
released  from  what  seemed  to  us  a  monster,  who  ever 
said  that  the  teeth  met,  or  that  the  skin  was  torn,  or 
that  he  had  suffered  in  the  portage  ?  It  seemed  like 
rough  usage;  but  the  end  justified  the  means,  and 
there  was  kindness  all  the  way  through. 

Q.  You  have  quoted  the  passage,  "  Blessed  are  the  pure  in 
heart."  The  trouble  is  that  our  hearts  are  not  pure.  The  conse- 
quence is  that  the  streams  that  flow  from  them  are  not  pure. 
How  shall  we  cleanse  our  hearts,  so  that  there  shall  be  pure 
streams  flowing  out  from  them  ? 

It  is  a  comfort  to  know  that  there  is  a  way.  A  case 
in  point  is  found  in  the  history  of  John.  John,  ap- 
parently, was  one  of  the  most  irascible  of  the  disciples. 
He  was  the  one  who,  when  walking  with  Christ,  asked 
that  he  might  bring  down  fire  from  heaven  on  the  vil- 
lagers because  they  would  not  receive  the  Master. 
"When  people  do  not  do  as  we  would  like  to  have 
them,  or  as  we  think  they  ought  to  do,  we  are  apt  to 
burn  them  with  our  tongue,  —  to  afflict  them  with  a 
fiery  temper.  It  was  much  the  same  way  with  John. 
And  see  how  he  was  changed.  From  being  fiery  and 
hot  as  the  sun  at  midday  in  summer,  he  became  most 
gentle,  serene,  and  sweet.  There  is  a  way  to  get  a 
pure  heart ;  but  a  man  must  want  it  enough  to  get  it. 
There  are  three  degrees  of  want.  We  may  want  a 
thing  only  so  far  as  to  wish  we  had  it,  or  even  so  far 
as  to  feel  unhappy  without  it,  or,  finally,  so  far  as  to 
put  forth  the  effort  necessary  to  acquire  it.  And  in 
our  growth  in  grace  we  frequently  go  far  enough  to 


318  LECTURE-ROOM   TALKS. 

make  ourselves  extremely  uneasy,  but  not  far  enough 
to  achieve  complete  victory. 

Listen  to  a  portion  of  Scripture  which  has  a  bear- 
ing on  this  general  subject :  — 

"  Wherefore,  seeing  we  also  are  compassed  about  with  so  great 
a  cloud  of  witnesses,  let  us  lay  aside  every  weight,  and  the  sin 
which  doth  so  easily  beset  us,  and  let  us  run  with  patience  the 
race  that  is  set  before  us,  looking  unto  Jesus,  the  author  and  fin- 
isher of  our  faith  [the  One  who  inspires  these  desires,  and  who 
will  take  care  of  them]  ;  who,  for  the  joy  that  was  set  before  him, 
endured  the  cross,  despising  the  shame,  and  is  set  down  at  the 
right  hand  of  the  throne  of  God." 

There  was  the  victory  at  last ;  but  he  had  to  come 
to  it  by  the  cross,  and  through  a  long  period  of  suffer- 
ing on  earth.  He  walked  through  a  struggle  which, 
though  perhaps  different  from  our  troubles,  produced 
substantially  the  same  results, 

"  For  consider  him  that  endured  such  contradiction  of  sinners 
against  himself,  lest  ye  be  wearied  and  faint  in  your  minds.  Ye 
have  not  yet  resisted  unto  blood,  striving  against  sin.  And  ye 
have  forgotten  the  exhortation  which  speaketh  unto  you  as  unto 
children.  My  son,  despise  not  thou  the  chastening  of  the  Lord, 
nor  faint  when  thou  art  rebuked  of  him ;  for  whom  the  Lord 
loveth  he  chasteneth,  and  scourgeth  every  son  whom  he  receiveth. 
If  ye  endure  chastening,  God  dealeth  with  you  as  with  sons  ;  for 
what  son  is  he  whom  the  father  chasteneth  not  ?  But  if  ye  be 
without  chastisement,  whereof  all  are  partakers,  then  are  ye  bas- 
tards, and  not  sons.  Furthermore,  we  have  had  fathers  of  our  flesh 
which  corrected  us,  and  we  gave  them  reverence  :  shall  we  not 
much  rather  be  in  subjection  unto  the  Father  of  spirits,  and  live  ? 
For  they  verily  for  a  few  days  chastened  us  after  their  own  pleas- 
ure ;  but  he  for  our  profit,  that  we  might  be  partakers  of  his  ho- 
liness. Now,  no  chastening  for  the  present  seemeth  to  be  joyous, 
but  grievous  ;  nevertheless,  afterward  it  yieldeth  the  peaceable 
fruit  of  righteousness  unto  them  which  are  exercised  thereby." 


DIFFICULTIES   OF   PRAYER.  319 


DIFFICULTIES   OF   PRAYER. 


HERE  is  no  characteristic  of  the  new  life 
more  striking  than  the  disposition  which  it 
develops  in  us  to  prayer.  Behold  I  he  pray- 
eth,  may  almost  be  said  to  be  the  description 
of  the  beginning  of  the  Christian  life.  If  there  is 
anything  in  religion,  it  consists  in  the  soul's  taking 
hold  of  God  by  faith,  affectionately,  lovingly.  It  con- 
sists in  our  appropriating  God,  in  some  way,  to  our- 
selves. And  this  personal  acquaintance  —  if  one  may 
call  it  such  —  must  have  some  mode  of  intercourse. 
The  moment  we  are  conscious  that  we  are  reconciled 
to  God,  and  begin  to  feel  that  we  are  his  sons,  it 
seems  impossible  but  that  there  should  arise  spontane- 
ously some  thoughts  and  feelings  toward  him.  It  is 
about  this  point  that  a  great  many  difficulties  cluster ; 
and  I  have  thouglit  that  to-night  I  would  say  a  few 
words  on  the  subject  of  the  difficulties  of  prayer,  — 
private  prayer,  family  prayer,  and  public  prayer  in 
our  social  meetings. 

A  great  many  persons  experience  no  difficulty  what- 
ever. The  moment  they  begin  to  be  Christians,  they 
feel  that  they  have  a  right  to  call  God  their  own. 
Their  hearts  rise  up  toward  him,  and  prayer  is  the 
natural  language,  almost,  of  their  experience.  Al- 
thougli  they  have,  as  it  is  said,  their  clouded  days,  yet 
these  are  not  the  result  of  difficulties  in  this  direction. 

*  Friday  evening-,  October  29,  1869. 


320  LECTURE-ROOM   TALKS. 

I  suppose  there  are  gifts  of  prayer  that  inhere  in 
the  original  construction  of  the  mind.  As  there  are 
gifts  of  poetry,  gifts  of  oratory,  gifts  of  art,  gifts  of 
reasoning,  and  gifts  of  moral  sentiment ;  so  the  devo- 
tional tendency  which  expresses  itself  in  prayer  is  a 
matter  of  original  birth,  and  there  are  praying  na- 
tures. I  have  known  persons  to  pray  who  made  no 
pretension  to  being  Christians.  I  know  some  very 
wicked  men  who  have  lucid  intervals,  as  it  were, 
when  they  feel  the  strongest  disposition  to  pray.  It 
is  but  little  more  than  a  constitutional  impulse  in 
their  case.  It  works  no  special  benefit.  It  shows, 
however,  the  drift  of  a  strong  natural  tendency  in 
them. 

But  these  cases  are  rare  and  exceptional.  For  the 
most  part,  praying  is  like  speaking  a  foreign  language. 
We  have  to  learn  to  feel  and  think,  and  at  first  we 
speak  broken  language,  and  come  to  speak  better  and 
better  as  we  practise. 

This  will  throw  light  upon  one  of  the  difficulties 
which  persons  have  when  they  first  begin  to  pray, 
especially  those  who  have  not  had  the  advantage  of 
early  religious  culture,  or  have  not  been  where  they 
were  taught  to  pray,  or  have  practised  praying  but 
little.  They  say,  "  If  I  am  a  Christian,  why  do  I 
not  love  to  pray  ?  I  pray  because  it  is  my  duty,  but 
I  do  not  love  it.  When  I  hear  other  people  pray,  and 
speak  of  their  enjoyment,  I  am  confident  that  they  and 
I  are  in  different  spheres  of  experience." 

There  may  be  many  reasons  why  you  do  not  like  to 
pray.  One  may  be  that  you  really  are  not  a  Chris- 
tian, and  cannot  speak  the  language  of  Canaan.     An- 


DIFFICULTIES    OF   TRAYER.  321 

other  reason  may  be  that  you  have  not  learned  to  pray 
in  a  manner  that  is  adapted  to  you.  It  may  be  that 
you  undertake  to  employ  forms  of  speecli  which  to 
you  are  unbefitting.  You  remember  how  David  at- 
tempted to  fight  tlie  battle  with  Goliath  in  Saul's  ar- 
mor, how  he  found  it  too  large  and  too  heavy  for  him, 
and  how  he  went  back  and  got  his  simple  sling,  with 
wliich  he  slew  the  giant.  Many  of  you  make  a  similar 
mistake  in  praying.  You  try  to  pray  as  the  minister 
does,  or  as  some  elder  or  class-leader  does,  or  as  some 
fluent  brother  does,  and  you  do  not  succeed.  You 
try  to  walk  in  the  prayer  of  another  person  who  has 
had  more  experience  than  you  have,  and  it  rattles 
about  you  as  Saul's  armor  did  about  David.  It  is  a 
world  too  big  for  you.  It  does  not  fit  you  anywhere. 
I  do  not  wonder  that  you  do  not  want  to  pray  under 
such  circumstances.  If,  imitating  David,  who  went 
back  to  the  sling,  the  simplest  of  all  weapons,  you 
would  be  content  to  pray  as  a  little  child,  if  you 
would  go  back  to  lisping,  monosyllabic  prayers,  you 
would  have  less  difficulty,  and  would  like  prayer 
better. 

If  a  man  is  in  trouble,  and  he  says,  "  0,  help 
me  !  "  that  is  a  prayer.  One  single  sentence  is  a 
prayer  from  a  burdened  heart.  Even  interjections 
are  prayers.  Sighing  may  be  praying.  If  you  are  in 
distress,  if  you  are  tempted,  if  you  have  a  special 
grief,  if  you  are  in  any  way  carrying  a  yoke  or  a 
burden,  just  put  your  prayer  on  that  spot ;  and  do 
not  try  to  make  a  good  prayer,  but  be  willing  to  make 
a  poor  one,  as  you  consider  it,  and  you  will  expe- 
rience mucli  more  comfort  in  your  devotions.  Never 
14*  u 


322  LECTURE-ROOM  TALKS. 

mind  how  your  prayer  begins,  or  how  it  ends.  Most 
of  our  prayers  would  be  a  great  deal  better  if  we  were 
not  so  particular  about  the  beginning  and  ending. 
Let  your  prayer  be  the  upspringing  and  bursting  forth 
of  your  real  feelings.  Prayer,  at  the  beginning  of 
the  Christian  life,  and  all  the  way  through,  is  more  or 
less  interjectional.  And  such  prayer  is  more  apt  to 
be  sincere,  and  to  strike  at  the  centre  of  real  want, 
and  to  be  free  from  sham,  than  almost  any  other. 

"  Should  young  people,  then,"  you  will  ask, "  be  en- 
couraged to  avoid  hours  and  places  of  prayer,  and  led 
to  feel  that  they  need  only  pray  when  they  feel  like 
it  ?  "  No,  very  far  from  it.  It  is  better  that  there 
should  be  set  occasions  and  places  ;  only  there  must 
be  no  feeling  of  bondage.  You  must  learn  to  make 
the  hour  of  prayer  and  the  place  of  prayer  sweet.  If 
the  sweetness  does  not  come  in  one  way,  it  must  in 
another.  At  any  rate,  there  must  be  freedom  from 
bondage  in  the  matter.  You  must  not  go  to  God  as 
to  a  hard  yoke  or  a  heavy  burden.  A  yoke  that  is  not 
easy,  or  a  burden  that  is  not  light,  is  neither  accept- 
able to  God,  nor  profitable  to  you.  And  in  by  far  the 
greatest  number  of  instances  where  you  set  apart  time 
and  place  for  devotions,  and  regularly  observe  them, 
they  will  soon  become  attractive.  And  when  the 
habit  is  once  formed,  it  will  become  one  of  the  most 
delightful  experiences  of  your  life,  and  will  be  a 
source  of  amazing  comfort  to  you.  It  will  be  like  the 
bath  in  the  morning  and  at  evening,  which  cools  and 
cleanses  and  exhilarates  the  body.  There  should  be 
no  day  without  prayers,  and  many  of  them ;  and  if 
there  be  set  occasions  of  prayer  in  the  morning,  at 


DIFFICULTIES   OF  PRAYER.  323 

evening,  and  even  at  noonday,  as  is  the  case  witli 
some,  the  soul  loses  no  time.  The  old  proverb  is, 
"  He  that  prays  well  studies  well "  ;  and  you  may  say 
that  he  who  prays  well  works  well,  and  does  every- 
thing better. 

But  do  not  overdo  this.  Do  not  suppose  that  you 
can  fill  up  any  certain  amount  of  time  with  your  de- 
votions, to  the  greatest  profit.  Do  not  feel  that  you 
must  read  a  whole  chapter  or  pray  fifteen  minutes 
every  day.  I  began  with  that  idea,  and  began 
wrong.  It  was  according  to  my  temperament  and 
disposition  to  carry  things  to  excess.  I  meant  to  pray 
seven  times  a  day.  I  did  it  for  a  time  very  faithfully ; 
and  I  need  not  say  that  it  was  not  wise.  Still,  there 
might  have  been  more  foolish  things  than  that.  If 
you  set  out  to  pray  by  your  watch,  the  probability  is 
that  your  watch  will  pray  as  well  as  you  do.  You 
want  to  lose  the  mechanical  element.  There  must  bo 
liberty  and  congeniality  in  prayer.  Of  all  things,  do 
not  let  it  be  gloomy.  Let  everything  about  it  bo 
agreeable.  If  I  were  to  begin  again  with  my  present 
feelings,  I  would  have  some  sweet  nook  where  the  sun 
shone  into  the  window,  and  I  would  have  a  pot  of 
flowers  for  my  eye  to  feed  upon,  and  I  would  kneel 
down,  or  sit,  or  stand,  as  the  case  might  be,  and  I 
would  make  that  place  a  heart-place,  dear  to  me  in 
all  my  tastes  and  affections,  and  out  of  that  I  would 
day  by  day  love  my  Saviour,  and  make  the  season  one 
of  love  and  joy. 

Do  not  suppose  that  prayer  is  not  for  you  because 
you  have  tried  to  pray  once  or  twice  and  failed.  If 
you  were  learning  to  make  a  watch,  you  would  not 


324  LECTURE-ROOII   TALKS. 

give  up  because  you  could  not  succeed  in  a  week. 
Before  you  can  make  a  watch,  you  must  serve  an  ap- 
prenticeship ;  and  persons  must  learn  how  to  pray. 
The  knowledge  comes  little  by  little,  by  "  patient  con- 
tinuance in  well-doing." 

When  persons  begin,  they  cannot  ordinarily  pray 
for  a  great  breadth  and  variety  of  things  ;  and  their 
prayers  should  be  brief.  This  general  direction,  if 
followed,  will  relieve  many  from  ivandering  thoughts, 
as  they  are  called.  Such  thoughts  are  a  protest  of 
nature  against  your  conventional  prayers.  You  com- 
mence praying,  and  go  on  till  you  have  said  all  you 
have  to  say,  and  then  you  try  to  go  farther,  and  the 
consequence  is  that  your  thoughts  wander.  If  you 
would  stop  when  you  have  no  more  to  say,  no  matter 
how  short  the  prayer  may  have  been,  you  Avould  cease 
to  be  troubled  with  wandering  thoughts.  If  you  have 
but  little  to  say,  say  it,  and  let  that  suffice.  It  is  not 
for  you  to  pray  any  longer  than  your  heart  dictates. 
Make  short  prayers,  and  your  thoughts  will  not  be 
tempted  to  wander.  I  do  not  believe  a  man  ever  had 
any  difficulty  in  this  respect  who  said,  "  God,  save  me 
from  temptation !  "  I  do  not  believe  the  publican, 
when  he  said,  "  God,  be  merciful  to  me,  a  sinner!" 
had  wandering  thoughts  ;  but  if  he  had  prayed  for  an 
hour,  his  thoughts  might  have  wandered. 

Let  your  prayers  be  very  simple  in  so  far  as  they 
are  praise  ;  very  simple  and  brief  in  so  far  as  they  are 
supplication,  compassing  the  want  that  swells  in  you 
at  the  time  ;  and  in  so  far  as  they  are  communion,  no 
longer  than  just  sufficient  to  enable  you  to  give  forth 
what  your  soul  really  has  in  it.     If  it  is  but  little, 


DIFFICULTIES    OF   PRAYER.  325 

then  be  satisfied  with  that  little.  Remember  that  you 
are  praying  to  him  who  commended  the  widow  be- 
cause she  gave  two  mites,  and  said  that  she  put  in 
more  than  all  they  that  put  into  the  treasury,  because 
they  put  in  "  of  their  abundance,"  while  she  put  in 
"  all  her  living."  If  a  great  rich  nature  prays  an 
hour,  he  does  not  pour  out  so  much  in  proportion  to 
what  is  in  him  as  a  lisping,  sighing  nature  does  in  sin- 
cerely uttering  one  single  sentence  from  the  heart  in 
prayer  to  God. 

You  pray  to  a  generous  God,  to  a  lenient  God,  to 
one  who -loves  you  better  than  you  love  yourself,  to 
one  that  would  fain  take  you  up  in  his  arms,  while 
you  are  praying,  and  help  you.  His  "  Spirit  maketli 
intercession  for  us  with  groaning^  which  cannot  be  ut- 
tered." 

Now  one  word  as  to  prayer  in  the  family.  I  mean, 
not  simply  the  prayer  of  father  or  mother,  as  the  case 
may  be,  but  prayer  where  you  are  called,  in  the  fam- 
ily, under  any  circumstances,  to  lead  in  prayer  in  be- 
half of  others.  Never  refuse  to  take  up  your  cross  in 
this  regard.  I  have  known  parents  who,  as  they  were 
about  to  come  into  the  church,  felt  that  they  must 
"  set  up  the  family  altar,"  as  the  phrase  is  ;  and  they 
knelt  down  to  pray,  and,  never  having  heard  their  own 
voice  in  prayer  before,  they  trembled  and  l)roke  down, 
and  could  not  go  on.  And  then  the  Devil  said  to 
them,  "  Pretty  business  you  are  making  of  it !  I  ad- 
vise you  to  attend  to  something  that  you  can  do  better 
than  this."  And  they  got  up  in  disgust,  and  said, 
"  I  am  making  a  fool  of  myself." 


326  LECTURE-ROOM   TALKS. 

Now,  a  child  that,  when  it  commences  walking,  tot- 
ters and  falls,  does  not  make  a  fool  of  itself.  A  boy 
in  school  that  forgets  his  French,  and  cannot  recite 
his  lesson,  does  not  make  a  fool  of  himself.  And  you 
do  not  make  a  fool  of  yourself,  if,  when  you  first  at- 
tempt to  pray  in  your  family,  you  do  not  succeed. 
You  rather  excite  gentle  compassion  in  God.  Do  you 
suppose  you  have  a  scoffing  God  and  sneering  angels 
as  listeners  when  you  make  a  halting,  broken  prayer  ? 
Suppose  you  do  break  down,  that  is  only  an  argument 
for  your  trying  again.  What  kind  of  a  life  have  you 
been  living,  what  sort  of  habits  have  you  formed,  that, 
the  first  time  you  undertake  to  gratefully  recognize 
in  your  household  the  providence  and  kindness  of 
God,  you  should  give  up  because  you  stumble  and 
fall  down  ?  It  ought  to  be  an  argument,  not  of  dis- 
couragement, but  of  persistence.  You  ought  to  say, 
"  By  the  help  of  God  I  will  persevere,  and  do  my  duty." 

In  this  matter,  I  would  affectionately  exhort  every 
man  or  woman  who  is  asked  in  any  household  to  pray 
not  to  refuse.  You  are  in  a  boarding-house,  and  it  is 
said  to  you,  "  There  is  nobody  here  to  lead  in  family 
devotions.  I  understand  that  you  are  a  member  of 
the  church.  Perhaps  you  would  be  willing  to  read 
and  pray."  You  have  never  done  such  a  thing. 
Here  are  all  these  boarders  ;  there  are  clerks  among 
them ;  you  do  not  know  what  they  will  say  or  do  ; 
and  everything  in  you  says,  "  I  cannot !  "  Here  is 
an  opportunity  for  you  to  serve  your  Master.  And 
you  do  not  know  but  God  will  bless  your  poor  prayer. 
You  do  not  know  but  it  Avill  be  blessed,  not  only  to 
your  good,  but  to  the  salvation  of  many  others.     And 


DIFFICULTIES   OF   PRAYER.  327 

you  never  should  shrink  when  the  cross  is  manifestly 
laid  on  you.  This  is  a  case  in  which  I  can  say  un- 
hesitatingly, "  Stand  up  for  Jesus,  and  be  faithful  to 
the  call  of  God's  providence." 

I  knew  an  instance  in  Chilicothe.  A  plain  and 
humble  man  was  visited  by  one  of  the  first  lawyers  of 
the  whole  region,  who  spent  the  night  with  him.  In 
the  morning  he,  being  a  Christian,  had  a  great  strug- 
gle as  to  whether  he  would  not  omit  family  prayer  ;  for 
this  lawyer  was  a  sceptical  man,  and  a  man  of  great 
learning  and  eloquence.  But,  although  vehemently 
tempted,  this  plain,  humble  Christian  man  said, 
timidly,  on  rising  from  the  table,  "  Sir,  it  is  our  cus- 
tom to  read  a  portion  of  Scripture,  and  follow  with 
prayer  ;  and  we  should  be  happy  to  have  you  join 
with  us,  if  you  please."  "  Certainly,"  said  the  law- 
yer,—  for  he  was  a  gentleman.  And  the  man  read 
from  the  Bible,  and  knelt  down  and  prayed.  That 
day  the  lawyer  went  home,  where,  providentially,  a 
powerful  revival  was  in  progress,  and  at  night  he 
went  to  meeting  ;  and  when  persons  were  requested 
to  rise  for  prayers,  to  the  amazement  of  all  present, 
whom  a  thunderbolt  would  not  have  astounded  more, 
he  rose.  And  the  result  was  that  he  was  converted. 
And  in  bearing  his  testimony,  he  said  :  "  In  staying 
over  night  with  this  man,  whom  I  knew  to  be  a  plain 
man,  and  in  no  respect  superior  to  ordinary  men,  and 
seeing  him  take  his  Bible,  and  read,  and  then  kneel 
down  and  pray,  and  knowing  how  much  he  must 
suffer  in  doing  it,  I  knew  he  had  something  that  I 
lacked."  Having  come  under  the  influence  of  this 
man,  and   been  impressed   by  his  fidelity  to  his  re- 


328  LECTURE-ROOM  TALKS. 

ligion,  he  was  led  to  think  ;  thinking  led  to  feeling  ; 
the  more  he  thought,  the  deeper  he  felt ;  and  he  went 
to  this  meeting,  asked  for  prayers,  and  was  converted, 
and  became  a  very  influential  man  in  the  church. 

Now  suppose  this  man  had  shrunk  from  his  duty. 
The  lawyer  would  have  gone  away,  very  likely,  sneer- 
ing and  saying, "  What  sort  of  a  religion  is  that  which 
will  not  stand  before  the  face  of  man  ?  I  went  to 
that  man's  house,  and  stayed  over  night,  and  though 
he  professes  to  be  a  Christian,  and  belongs  to  the 
church,  he  did  not  have  family  prayers."  No  mat- 
ter if  a  man  can  only  make  a  poor  prayer,  he  sliould 
be  faithful  even  under  such  circumstances. 

In  family  prayer,  except  in  cases  where  families  are 
away  in  the  wilderness,  and  the  children  get  all  their 
religious  instruction  at  the  family  altar,  it  seems  to 
me  that  the  services  should  be  very  brief,  morning  or 
evening,  or  both,  as  the  case  may  be.  We  ought  to 
have  regard  for  the  infirmities  of  the  weak.  The  ser- 
vants and  little  children  ought  not  to  dread  the  hour 
of  prayer.  It  ought  to  be  made  so  sweet  and  pleasant 
that  they  shall  look  forward  to  it  with  delight.  It  is 
your  business  to  think,  not  of  yourself,  but  of  those 
for  whom  you  are  officiating.  There  ought  to  be  no 
place  so  dear  to  a  family  as  the  throne  of  grace. 
And  every  day  the  father  and  mother,  with  the  chil- 
dren about  them,  should  have  prayers.  It  is  a  sad 
thing  for  children  to  grow  up  in  a  household  where 
tliere  is  no  such  thing  as  prayer  at  any  time  in  the 
day.  It  is  not  right  for  the  children  ;  it  is  not  riglit 
toward  God  nor  toward  man. 

When  you  are  away  from  home,  and  are  asked  to 


DIFFICULTIES    OF   PRAYER.  329 

take  part  in  prayer  under  circumstances  that  embar- 
rass you,  that  is  the  time  for  you  to  be  faithful. 
Everybody  can  run  down  hill,  but  it  takes  a  man  to 
run  up  hill.  What  is  a  religion  worth  that  can  con- 
form to  everything  that  is  easy  and  natural  and  agree- 
able, but  cannot  stand  in  emergencies  ?  When  God 
brings  you  into  places  where  your  natural  feelings 
tend  to  shrink,  that  is  a  time  for  you  to  show  that 
you  are  acting  on  principle,  and  not  on  pleasing  im- 
pulse. 

In  public  prayer,  at  conference  and  prayer-meet- 
ings, as  a  general  rule,  there  should  be  brevity  and 
simplicity,  and  there  should  always  be  fidelity  and 
such  fervor  as  you  really  have.  The  great  trouble 
with  people  in  public  prayer  is  that  they  are  not  will- 
ing to  make  poor  prayers,  and  they  cannot  make 
good  ones.  Just  as  soon  as  a  man  is  willing  to  be- 
come a  fool  for  Christ's  sake,  the  difficulty  is  out  of 
the  way.  The  moment  a  man  says,  "  I  know  that  my 
utterance  is  poor  ;  I  know  that  my  thoughts  run  all 
sorts  of  ways  ;  I  know  that  my  prayers  cannot  be  edi- 
fying ;  but  still,  if  my  brethren  ask  me  to  pray,  I 
shall  pray,  my  poor  prayer  being  all  the  offering  I  can 
make,"  — the  moment  a  man  says  that,  he  will  have 
no  further  trouble. 

The  service  of  the  temple,  in  olden  times,  required 
that  when  a  mother  brought  her  child  to  thank  God 
for  its  deliverance  from  sickness,  she  should  offer  a 
lamb  and  a  dove  ;  but  if  she  was  so  poor  that  she 
could  not  afford  both,  then  she  brought  simply  a  dove. 
The  Lord  calls  for  the  firstlings  of  the  flock  ;  but  if 


330  LECTURE-ROOM   TALKS. 

you  are  so  poor  that  you  cannot  carry  them,  he  will 
take  a  bird,  or  anything  that  you  have  to  give.  Carry 
according  to  what  you  have. 

If  you  excuse  yourself  from  praying  in  meeting, 
and  say,  "  How  can  I  stand  up  among  my  brethren 
and  make  a  prayer  ?  I  am  so  unlettered  that  I  can 
hardly  speak  the  king's  English,  and  any  prayer  that 
I  could  make  would  be  poor  indeed,"  nevertheless,  if 
you  are  called  upon  to  pray,  perform  the  duty  accord- 
ing to  that  which  is  in  you.  If  your  brethren  want 
tl^e  benefit  of  your  gift,  exercise  it.  And  do  not  let 
your  pride  make  you  believe  that  you  are  humble. 
Do  not  say,  "  0,  if  I  could  only  do  something 
worthy,  I  would  not  decline !  but  I  am  so  hum- 
ble— "  Humble!  It  is  the  very  quintessence  of 
pride !  There  are  more  persons  who  are  proud  in 
their  humility,  a  thousand  times,  than  men  suppose. 

I  had  a  good  lesson  from  my  father,  once,  in  this 
very  matter.  I  had  lectured  for  him  under  circum- 
stances that  mortified  me  a  good  deal.  I  made  such 
poor  work  that  I  felt  bad  about  it  all  the  next  day  ; 
and  I  said  to  father,  "  I  feel  perfectly  humbled." 
"  Humbled  !  "  said  he  ;  "  I  wish  you  did  feel  humbled. 
It  is  nothing  in  the  world  but  mortified  pride  !  "  It 
was  mortified  pride,  though  I  tried  to  persuade  my- 
self that  it  was  humility. 

There  are  many  persons  who  will  not  pray  on  ac- 
count of  mortified  pride.  0  that  their  pride  might 
be  humbled  and  lowered !  0  that  they  might  feel 
a  sense  of  their  obligation! 

Q.  What  advice  would  you  give  in  regard  to  prayer,  to  a  per- 
son wlio  was  conscientious,  honest,  desiring  to  do  right,  not  scofT- 


DIFFICULTIES    OF   PRAYER.     .  331 

ing  religion,  leather  desiring  it,  but  still  not  a  Christian,  not  loving 
Christ,  not  having  a  sense  of  prayer,  and  oot  understanding  how 
the  great  God,  who  sees  the  end  from  the  beginning,  can  listen  to 
prayer  ? 

If  there  is  anything  laid  down  over  and  over  again 
in  the  Bible,  it  is  that  God  is  a  hearer  of  prayer.  The 
question  which  a  man  should  ask  himself  is,  Have  I 
anything  to  do  in  the  way  of  jjraying  ?  And  I  hold 
that  a  man  may  pray  who  is  not  a  Christian.  I  hold 
that  the  prayers  of  persons  who  are  not  converted  are 
heard,  —  some  of  them,  at  least.  Prayer  cannot  be  to 
such  persons  that  work  of  affection  which  it  is  to  a 
truly  Christian  man ;  but  may  not  a  man  who  has 
fallen  into  the  water  cry  out,  even  to  his  enemy, 
"  Help  me  !  "  And  may  there  not  be  supplication 
to  God  for  help  to  enable  one  to  clear  his  mind  ? 
How  was  it  when  Christ  was  on  earth  ?  Did  he  wait 
till  people  were  good  before  he  would  listen  to  their 
petitions  ?  Did  he  wait  for  people  to  heal  themselves 
before  he  would  do  anything  for  them  ?  Look  at  the 
example  of  Christ,  and  see  where  and  how  he  took 
people,  if  you  want  to  know  how  and  where  he  takes 
them  now.  Let  anybody  pray  that  feels  the  need  of 
prayer. 

I  should  say,  decidedly,  that  a  man  might  pray  who 
was  honest,  and  who  at  times  almost  believed  that  God 
did  hear  prayer,  but  who,  on  the  whole,  could  not  say 
that  he  fairly  believed. 

Suppose  I  was  sick,  and  did  not  know  exactly  what 
to  do  for  myself;  and  suppose  I  had  been  told  that 
the  doctor  had  gone  into  the  country  with  his  family , 
and  suppose  I  credited  the  statement.     That  would 


332  LECTURE-ROOM  TALKS. 

not  prevent  mj  going  to  his  house  to  see  whether 
I  had  been  correctly  informed.  I  say  to  myself,  "  He 
may  be  at  home,  after  all.  I  will  go  and  ring,  any- 
how." My  impression  is  that  he  is  not  there ;  but 
when  I  ring,  to  my  joyful  surprise  he  opens  the 
door  himself.  I  say,  "  Why,  Doctor  !  I  thought  you 
were  in  the  country."  ^  "  Well,"  says  he,  "  I  have 
been,  and  got  back,  and  I  should  have  been  there 
again  in  the  morning."  Here  is  a  case  in  which 
I  do  not  really  believe,  but  in  which  I  go  and  see. 
And  I  say  that  even  if  a  man  does  not  believe  that 
God  hears  prayer,  it  is  worth  his  while  to  try  praying 
and  see.  The  answer  may  be  the  means  of  opening 
his  eyes  or  softening  his  heart. 

Q.  Suppose  I  should  go  to  you  and  say,  "  Mr.  Beecher,  I  am 
going  to  ask  you  to  do  me  a  favor,  but  I  do  not  believe  you  will 
do  it  ?  "  Would  it  not  be  an  insult  ?  Is  not  that  question  an- 
swered by  the  Apostle  in  a  way  that  cannot  be  dodged,  where  he 
says,  "  He  that  cometh  to  God  must  believe  that  he  is,  and  that 
he  is  a  rewarder  of  them  that  diligently  seek  him  "  ?  AYould  it 
not  be  an  insult  to  God  for  a  man  to  pray  to  him  who  did  not 
believe  in  him  ? 

It  is  absolutely  and  philosophically  true  that  a  man 
cannot  pray  in  the  true  spirit  of  prayer  who  does  not 
believe  in  God,  and  come  to  him  as  if  he  expected  he 
would  hear  him.  That  covers  the  general  flow  of 
prayer.  But  we  are  supposing  the  case  of  one  who  is 
not  a  Christian,  and  does  not  believe  in  God  ;  and  the 
question  is  whether  such  a  person  may  go  to  God  in 
prayer. 

Now,  God  represents  himself  in  Christ  as  going 
forth  to  seek  and  to  save.     He  goes  after  wen,     It  is 


DIFFICULTIES   OF   PRAYER.  333 

that  God  who  does  not  wait  for  men  to  do  right,  but 
goes  to  them  while  they  are  yet  in  the  wrong,  loving 
them  while  they  yet  hate  him,  and  having  a  heart  to- 
ward them  while  they  arc  yet  his  enemies,  —  it  is  that 
God  that  I  am  speaking  of.  And  to  that  great  Phy- 
sician who  goes  to  men  so  stained  through  with  disease 
that  they  do  not  even  know  how  to  take  medicine,  and 
rouses  them  up,  and  gives  them  the  medicine  against 
their  willingness  to  take  it,  —  to  that  God  a  man  may 
go  experimentally  and  say,  "  0  God  !  — ■  if  there  is  a 
God,  —  bless  me."  Though  it  is  wrong  when  viewed 
in  one  point,  yet  remedially  and  experimentally,  and 
in  the  light  of  that  mercy  of  God's  great  nature  which 
does  exceeding  abundantly  more  than  we  deserve  not 
only,  but  than  we  ash  or  think,  it  is  profitable  to  do  it. 
And  I  would  rather  tliat  a  man  who  does  not,  on  the 
whole,  believe  there  is  a  God,  would  once  in  a  while 
pray,  to  see  what  it  would  do,  than  that  he  should  go 
down  to  hell  without  a  word  of  supplication. 

I  therefore  say  to  men,  Pray.  Though  your  prayer 
be  poor,  and  though  your  whole  state  of  mind  be  bad, 
very  bad,  yet  you  are  praying  to  a  God  whose  mercy 
and  love  are  so  great  that  he  saves  men  from  their 
sins  while  yet  they  are  in  their  sins,  — not  on  account 
of  their  doing  right,  but  on  account  of  his  own  in- 
finite goodness. 


334  LECTURE-ROOM  TALKS. 


THE  BROODING  LOVE  OF  CHRIST. 


HERE  is  no  possibility  of  living  right  with- 
out a  sense  of  duty.  The  element  of  duty 
should  underlie  every  experience  of  life. 
Yet  it  is  a  product  of  the  conscience,  which 
alone  will  never  make  a  man"  happy.  It  is  not  in  the 
nature  of  duty,  or  conscience,  to  afford  gratification. 
It  is  not  possible  that  a  man  should  derive  satisfaction 
from  following  a  strict  line  of  duty.  The  spirit  of 
duty,  where  it  is  magnified,  specialized,  intensified, 
seldom  brings  as  niuch  satisfaction  as  it  does  care  and 
anxiety.  It  is  the  union  of  trust,  springing  from  love, 
or  love  including  trust,  with  the  spirit  of  duty,  that 
gives  at  once  fidelity  and  ease  of  mind. 

There  are  a  great  many  persons  who  are  very  good- 
natured  and  very  happy,  but  they  are  not  broad ; 
they  are  superficial ;  they  are  not  dutiful.  They  have 
an  easy,  good-natured  trust,  which  does  not  mean 
much,  except  that  they  have  a  pleasant  temperament. 
They  have  a  certain  kind  of  satisfaction,  but  it  is  not 
a  moral  state.  Tbey  do  not  do  much  that  is  wrong, 
and  they  do  not  do  much  that  is  good. 

On  the  other  hand,  there  are  many  persons  who  are 
exceedingly  punctilious  about  their  duty,  who  are  very 
anxious  to  do  right ;  but  they  are  far  from  being 
happy.  They  are  more  frequently  consumed  by  bitter 
retrospect,  and  by  fears  in  regard  to  the  future,  than 
by  any  other  feelings. 


THE  BROODING   LOVE   OF   CHRIST.  335 

The  great  art  of  living  Christianlj  is  to  have  con- 
science for  the  undertone,  and  to  have  love  for  tho 
upper  and,  if  possible,  for  the  stronger  experience. 
And  I  do  not  know  how  these  conditions  can  be  se- 
cured without  an  active  faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
If  your  God  is  a  being  afar  off;  if  he  is  an  unformed, 
inaccessible  Father ;  if  he  is  a  merely  ideal  Jehovah,  — 
you  may  fear  him  ;  through  the  imagination  you  may 
comprehend  him  in  various  ways ;  but  I  do  not  sec 
how  you  can  love  him.  I  do  not  think  any  man  can 
take  a  cloud  to  his  bosom  and  love  it ;  and  this  ab- 
stract idea  of  God  is  but  little  more  than  a  cloud. 

It  pleased  God  to  take  on  the  form  of  a  man,  chiefly, 
among  other  reasons,  doubtless,  to  present  the  divine 
Spirit  in  just  that  aspect  in  which  we  are  accustomed 
to  look  at  being.  We  can  imagine  Christ,  because  we 
are  at  liberty  to  frame  him  as  a  man.  And  believing 
him  to  be  God,  —  very  God,  equal  with  the  Father 
and  the  Holy  Spirit,  —  we  are  able  by  the  imagination 
to  transfer  him  to  the  heavenly  state,  and  conceive  of 
him  there  ;  whereas  a  spiritual  being,  that  is  outside 
the  limit  of  the  senses,  we  cannot  take  hold  of  except 
in  a  vague  way,  because  we  have  had  no  experience 
such  as  is  peculiar  to  spiritual  beings.  And  vague- 
ness does  not  breed  love.  Love  spring^  from  definite 
apprehensions.  And  the  attributes  of  God,  so  far  as 
we  are  competent  to  apprehend  them,  are  represented 
by  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

A  great  many  ways  have  been  tried  of  presenting 
Christ  so  that  he  shall  be  lovely  to  us.  He  is  repre- 
sented as  the  suffering  Saviour  ;  he  is  represented  as 
the  triumphing  Saviour ;  he  is  represented  as  the  ever~ 


/e 


33G  LECTURE-EOOM   TALKS. 

living  and  ever-reigning  Saviour  ;  —  and  there  is  much 
reason  for  joy  and  gratulation  in  these  various  as- 
pects. 

But  I  have  been  thinking  all  the  week  of  one  fig- 
ure that  our  Saviour  himself  used,  which  has  brought 
him  very  near  to  me.  As  he  sat  looking  upon  Jeru- 
salem, with  a  multitude  about  him,  and  talking  to  his 
disciples,  or,  rather,  soliloquizing,  he  alluded,  not  to 
what  he  had  done,  but  to  what  he  felt  that  it  was  in 
him  to  do.  He  said,  "  Often  would  I  have  gathered 
thy  children  together,  even  as  a  hen  doth  gather  her 
brood  under  her  wings,  and  ye  would  not !  "  That 
was  the  feeling  he  had. 

I  have  on  my  farm  one  hen  that  has  twenty  chick- 
ens, and  several  that  have  from  twelve  to  fifteen  each. 
j  All  together,  I  have  some  two  hundred  chickens  run- 
\  ning  about  up  there  ;  and  I  have  seen  the  brooding 
.  I  process  in  all  its  stages.     Simply  as  a  feature  of  natu- 

\  ■'  y  ral  history,  it  is  extremely  interesting ;  but  it  is  in- 
r.  *\  teresting  to  me,  also,  because  it  reminds  me  of  the 
,'V^  I  words  of  Christ  which  I  have  quoted.  I  like  to  look 
at  those  things  which  God  has  laid  his  hand  on  in  the 
Bible,  and  stained  through  with  familiar  truths.  The 
clouds  tell  me  some  things  ;  the  winds  tell  me  some 
things  ;  the  trees  tell  me  some  things  ;  the  rocks  tell 
me  some  things  ;  the  blossoms  tell  me  some  things  ; 
the  thorns  tell  me  some  things  ;  the  birds  that  fly,  and 
the  very  hens,  tell  me  some  things. 

The  hen  is  really  one  of  the  most  simple  creatures 
that  ever  lived  ;  and  in  some  respects  she  is  one  of 
the  most  helpless.  Yet  there  are  some  things  that  are 
extremely  beautiful  in  the  actions  of  a  hen.     For  in- 


THE  BROODING   LOVE   OF   CHRIST.  337 

stance,  if  a  chicken,  following  her,  gets  tangled  in  the 
brush,  and  peeps  piteously,  she  stops,  and,  though  all 
the  rest  of  the  brood  go  on,  runs  back  to  see  if  she 
cannot  in  some  way  extricate  that  chicken.  But  she 
cannot.  If  it  is  a  hawk,  she  cannot  fight.  If  one  of 
her  chickens  gets  in  a  ditch  the  wrong  way,  and  can- 
not get  out,  she  will  wander  around  it  all  day,  but  she 
can  do  nothing  to  relieve  it.  A  poor  mother  she  is. 
But  it  is  the  disposition,  the  feeling,  that  I  look  at. 

The  hen  diligently  hunts  after  food  for  her  little 
flock  ;  and  if,  as  she  scratches,  she  sees  a  most  tempt- 
ing worm,  it  is  not  for  her,  but  for  her  chickens.  She 
forgets  herself  in  caring  for  them.  The  moment  they 
begin  to  be  tired,  she  seems  to  know  it,  and  seeks  a 
corner  where  the  wind  does  not  blow,  and  settles 
down,  expanding  her  wings.  And  one  after  another 
the  little  wretches  come  running  to  her  and  nestle  un- 
der her.  And  then  come  their  little  peeps,  and  her 
cooing.  It  is  the  very  spirit  of  domesticity  that  the 
scene  exhibits.  And  I  never  see  it  that  I  am  not  re- 
minded of  the  tenderness  and  love  which  Christ  mani- 
fested toward  his  enemies,  —  toward  those  that  he 
knew  were  about  to  shed  his  blood,  —  when  he  said, 
"  How  often  would  I  have  gathered  thy  children  to- 
gether, even  as  a  hen  gathereth  her  chickens  under 
her  wings,  and  ye  would  not !  " 

To-day  I  saw  the  same  thing  in  birds.  I  was  at 
work  among  my  grape-vines,  when  my  attention  was 
attracted  by  two  robins  that  were  making  a  great 
racket.  I  was  sure  by  their  actions  that  tliey  had 
young  ones  which  they  thought  to  be  in  danger.  And 
I  said,  "  Why,  you  old  fools !  I  won't  hurt  you  nor 

15  V 


338  LECTURE-ROOM   TALKS. 

your  little  birds."  Just  then,  I  heard  a  noise  that  I 
recognized  ;  and  I  said,  "  The  cat  is  here."  And 
sure  enough,  looking  down,  I  saw  the  cat  curled  up 
under  the  trellis.  It  was  the  sight  of  him  that  had 
set  the  birds  all  agog.  "  What  is  he  doing  here  ?  " 
I  asked.  He  had  no  business  there,  —  and  all  the 
more  because  I  had  just  written  an  article  saying  that 
my  cats  had  been  so  brought  up  that  I  did  not  be- 
lieve any  of  them  hunted  birds  !  In  my  indignation, 
I  seized  him  by  the  neck,  and  walked  off  with  him  to 
the  other  side  of  the  cherry-orchard,  and  gave  him  an 
opportunity  to  see  how  it  would  seem  if  he  were  fly- 
ing. And  I  sent  one  or  two  stones  after  him  by  way 
of  application. 

Well,  about  a  rod  from  where  I  had  been  standing, 
in  a  dwarf  cherry-tree  crotch,  two  feet  from -the 
ground,  there  was  the  nest  of  these  birds  ;  and  in  it 
were  four  robins.  The  cat  had  gone  out  there,  and 
of  course  did  not  know  that  the  nest  was  there,  or 
it  would  have  been  destroyed.  The  birds,  to  whom 
nothing  Avas  so  precious  as  that  nest  and  its  contents, 
inspired  by  the  feeling  of  fear,  were  flying  round  the 
cat  to  deceive  him  as  to  where  the  nest  was,  and  en- 
deavoring to  draw  him  off  as  far  as  possible  from  their 
young,  at  times  perilling  their  own  lives  that  they 
might  save  them  from  destruction.  Look  at  that 
faithfulness,  that  fearlessness,  and  that  love  in  those 
birds,  which  should  lead  them  to  put  themselves 
where  they  were  in  danger  of  being  stricken  by  the 
cat's  paw,  rather  than  that  their  little  unfledged 
things  should  receive  harm. 

When  I  see  these  things,  I  say,  "  Where  did  that 


THE  BROODING  LOVE  OF  CHRIST.        339 

instinct  of  love  come  from,  which  we  sec  throughout 
the  world  ?  Worms  take  care  of  worms  ;  hogs  take 
care  of  hogs  ;  birds  take  care  of  birds  ;  and  as  you  rise 
in  the  animal  kingdom,  the  instinct  becomes  strong- 
er and  stronger.  And  where  did  it  come  from  ? " 
"We  see  the  same  feeling  exhibited  among  human 
beings  under- the  name  of  the  parental  instinct.  And 
what  are  these  various  manifestations  but  so  many 
fingers  pointing  upward,  and  saying,  "  The  great 
God  that  made  us,  and  taught  us  to  love,  is  himself 
the  great  Lover.  He  broods  over  the  universe.  He 
looks  after  all  those  that  are  imperilled  or  in  need  "  ? 
They  are  signs  and  symbols  of  God's  nature.  And  I 
find  no  difficulty  in  resting  on  a  God  with  such  a  na- 
ture. If  the  line  were  laid  on  my  conduct,  I  fear  it 
would  be  zigzag  from  day  to  day ;  but  I  have  a  God 
whose  heart  is  large  enough  to  take  me  in  with  all  my 
faults  and  imperfections.  God  over  all,  blessed  forever, 
—  my  God  !  And  so  I  can  live  by  faith,  —  that  faith 
which  works  by  love  ;  and  I  can  look  upon  my  sins 
and  my  faults,  and  yet  not  feel  cast  down,  because  the 
greatness  and  love  and  faithfulness  of  my  God  are 
such  as  to  make  up  my  deficiency. 


340  LECTURE-ROOM   TALKS. 


CONCEIT   OF    CHRISTIANS.* 


HERE  is  apt  to  grow  up  in  us  a  conceit  in 
reference  to  our  work.  We  get  on  the 
wrong  side  of  our  own  labor  oftentimes. 
We  think  we  have  given  a  good  deal  when 
we  have  watched  and  prayed  long  and  earnestly  for 
others,  when  we  have  given  time  and  money,  when 
we  have  suifered  buffet.  Our  pride  or  vanity  hardly 
fails  to  keep  a  little  account  of  these  things.  And 
we  rather  assume  the  air  of  benefactors.  We  think, 
"  How  much  have  I  done  !  "  And  sometimes  there  is 
the  language  of  complaint :  "  Why  should  one  who 
has  done  so  much  as  I  have  be  treated  as  I  am?  " 
There  is  a  kind  of  injured  innocence  that  we  put  on. 
Now,  there  never  was  a  person  that  did  anything 
worth  doing,  who  did  not  really  get  more  than  he 
gave.  This  is  pre-eminently  true  where  the  good 
which  you  do  is  less  and  less  physical,  and  more  and 
more  moral  and  spiritual ;  but  no  man  ever  rendered 
discreetly  even  any  bodily  service  to  another,  that  he 
was  not  more  blessed  than  that  other.  No  man  ever 
discreetly  gave  away  a  dollar,  that  that  dollar  did  not 
make  him  happier  than  it  did  the  recipient.  No  per- 
son ever  watched  with  the  sick,  sympathized  with  the 
sorrowing,  or  carried  burdens  and  bore  cares  for  other 
people,  who,  if  he  would  scrutinize  his  experience, 

*  Friday  evening,  November  5,  1869. 


CONCEIT  OF  CHRISTIANS.  341 

would  not  say,  "  The  happiness  that  it  gave  me  more 
than  repaid  me  for  all  my  trouble." 

A  mother  has,  perhaps,  the  hardest  earthly  lot. 
Her  life  is  one  perpetual  emptying  of  herself  of  her  own 
convenience  in  belialf  of  her  little  child,  that  for  many 
years  can  return  nothing,  and  can  never  make  any 
adequate  return,  for  her  care  of  it.  There  is  no  other 
instance  of  such  spontaneous  and  thorough  emptying 
of  one's  own  nature  for  another  that  we  know  of  in 
this  life.  And  yet  no  mother  worthy  of  the  name 
ever  gave  herself  thoroughly  for  her  child,  who  did 
not  feel  that,  after  all,  she  reaped  what  she  had  sown. 

No  person  was  ever  called  to  suffer  for  a  principle, 
and  suffered  manfully,  that  he  was  not  himself  con- 
scious that  he  was  a  victor.  When  your  name  is  cast 
out,  and  trodden  under  feet  of  men  ;  when  you  are 
counted  as  the  ofTscouring  of  the  earth  for  faithful- 
ness to  duty,  do  you  not  experience  a  peculiar  joy  ? 
Can  you  not  then  understand  what  the  Apostle  meant 
when  he  said,  "  My  brethren,  count  it  all  joy  when 
ye  fall  into  divers  temptations  "  ? 

I  am  speaking  of  the  qualities  that  are  infused  into 
the  essential  character  of  a  person  by  doing  the  work 
of  the  Lord  in  this  world ;  and  I  affirm  that  any 
bounty  which  you  have  conferred  on  others  blesses 
you  as  well  as  it  does  them. 

That  is  not  all.  The  biggest  end  comes  to  the  bene- 
factor. In  other  words,  it  is  a  large  exemplification 
of  that  exquisite  sentence  of  Christ,  "It  is  more 
blessed  to  give  than  to  receive."  I  consider  that  to 
be  the  key-note,  the  interpreting  principle,  of  the  new 
life  which  is  wrought  in  us  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  and 


342  LECTURE-EOOM  TALKS. 

by  the  power  of  divine  love.     It  is  the  very  interpreta- 
tion of  the  reign  of  love  .in  the  soul. 

A  man  has  had  a  class  in  Sunday  School  that  have 
tried  his  temper,  tried  his  faith,  tried  his  courage ;  but 
he  has  stuck  to  them,  and  would  not  give  them  up ; 
and  some  of  them  have  fallen  off;  and  of  the  others, 
some  have  remained  on  his  hands  for  two  years  with- 
out seeming  to  get  any  better.  And  he  thinks  he  is 
deserving  of  great  praise.  He  pats  himself,  and  takes 
to  himself  credit  that  he  has  been  so  faithful  under 
such  discouraging  circumstances.  He  says,  "  I  have 
taught  this  class  now  for  two  years,  under  circumstan- 
ces of  great  discouragement ;  and  ought  I  not  to  be 
praised  ? " 

Why,  my  dear  sir,  that  class  have  taught  you  a 
thousand  times  more  than  you  have  taught  tliem. 
They  have  done  you  more  good  than  you  could  do 
them.  The  records  of  the  other  world  will  show  that 
noble  principles,  great  essential  qualities  of  true  man- 
hood, have  been  developed  in  you,  and  that  the  foun- 
tains of  patient,  disinterested  benefaction  have  been 
cleansed  in  you,  by  the  influence  of  this  class  upon 
you.  You  are  a  hundred  times  more  like  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  than  you  would  have  been  but  for  them. 
The  benefits  which  you  have  derived  from  your  efforts 
to  instruct  and  elevate  them  have  been  multitudinous. 
You  have  your  remuneration.  There  is  no  person  in 
this  world  that  so  uniformly  takes  his  pay  as  he  goes 
along,  as  he  who  does  good  at  the  expense  of  his  own 
comfort  and  convenience. 

It  is  poor  water  that  will  not  run  down  hill.  The 
person  who  will  not  do  good  when  it  is  easier  to  do 


CONCEIT   OF   CHRISTIANS.  343 

good  than  not  to  do  it,  I  call  a  very  poor  Christian 
indeed.  Doing  good  under  such  circumstances  docs 
not  amount  to  much,  either.  That  is  a  poor  engine 
that  can  only  drive  water  through  hose  or  pipes  down 
hill.  A  good  engine  is  one  that  can  lift  large  quanti- 
ties of  water  up  steep  acclivities.  Those  vast  giants 
of  iron  at  the  Ridgewood  Water-Works,  which  supply 
this  city,  day  and  night,  easily  lifting  a  ton  of  water  at 
every  gush,  so  that  all  the  many  thirsty  faucet-mouths 
throughoiit  our  streets  cannot  exhaust  their  fulness,  — 
those  are  the  engines  that  I  admire. 

There  are  many  Christians  that  can  pump  down 
hill ;  and  they  are  very  conceited,  frequently,  and 
say,  "  See  what  I  am  doing.  See  the  pulsations  of  my 
heart.  Stand  out  of  the  way  !  "  But  anybody  can 
do  all  that  they  are  doing.  It  requires  no  grace  to 
stand  and  do  good  where  doing  good  is  spontaneous. 
But  let  a  man's  heart,  like  a  mighty  engine,  night  and 
day,  against  strength,  against  power,  labor  for  others 
until  there  is  developed  in  him  a  moral  spontaneity 
such  that  his  benefactions  are  unconscious,  involuntary, 
—  and  is  there  anything  that  could  have  happened  that 
would  have  been  so  great  a  blessing  to  him  as  the 
growth  in  true  and  noble  manhood  which  he  has 
achieved  ? 

God's  mercies  come  more  frequently  in  the  form  of 
sufferings  than  in  the  form  of  joys.  God  sends  his 
cross  to  men  to  develop  their  essential  manhood.  As 
the  life  of  the  world  was  in  the  cross  of  Christ,  so  still 
the  life  of  individual  souls  resides  in  pains  and  penal- 
ties. Christ  bore  sufferings,  and  carried  sorrows,  and 
dispossessed  himself  of  all  his  joy,  that  he  might  lay 


344  LECTURE-EOOII   TALKS. 

the  foundation  for  happiness  in  others.  It  is  what  has 
gone  out  of  hira,  in  the  form  of  truth  and  influence 
and  benefactions  of  various  kinds,  that  has  made  you 
what  you  are,  by  the  grace  of  God. 

So  then,  my  dear  brethren,  let  us  avoid  conceit, 
even  thougli  we  may  have  done  a  great  deal.  I  do 
not  believe  anybody,  with  a  generous  nature,  ever  did 
any  good,  that  the  first  effect  on  himself  was  not  to 
make  him  feel,  "  How  little  I  have  done  !  and  how 
poor  is  what  I  do!  " 

When  I  think  of  what  a  work  it  is  to  build  up  a 
human  soul,  and  what  an  opportunity  God's  kind 
grace  has  given  me  for  doing  it ;  when  I  think  what  a 
God  I  have  had,  and  what  a  Saviour  I  have  had,  and 
what  advantages  have  been  vouchsafed  to  me,  I  feel 
ashamed  and  humbled  to  think  that  I  have  done  so 
little  work  in  the  Lord's  vineyard,  and  have  done  it  so 
poorly.  My  opportunities  have  been  vast,  and  my 
performances,  compared  with  what  I  should  have 
done,  and  might  have  done,  have  been  very  meagre 
and  poor.  And  I  think  mine  is  not  a  singular  experi- 
ence. You  probably  feel  the  same  way.  You  never 
in  the  spirit  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  do  anything, 
that  you  do  not  feel,  "  It  is  not  as  good  as  I  wish  it 
were." 

A  little  child  brought  me,  one  day,  some  flowers. 
He  evidently  did  not  know  much  about  flowers.  He 
said  he  picked  them  by  the  wayside.  Some  were 
savory,  and  some  were  not  so  savory  ;  but  as  he 
handed  them  to  me,  he  said,  "  They  are  the  best  I 
could  find."  He  showed  that  he  would  have  been 
glad  to  give  me  better  ones,  though  he  had  only  a 


CONCEIT   OF   CHRISTIANS.  345 

vague  idea  of  what  "  better  "  was  in  my  case.  There 
was  just  the  beginning  of  generosity  in  the  child  man- 
ifesting itself  through  taste ;  and  his  feeling  was,  "  I 
wish  they  had  been  better  flowers." 

Now,  you  never  carried  flowers  to  one  whom  you 
loved  witliout  feeling  that  better  flowers  were  de- 
served by  that  one.  You  never  did  anything  for  one 
who  was  dear  to  you,  without  feeling  that  the  service 
was  far  less  than  you  fain  would  have  had  it.  And 
no  man  ever  suffered  for  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  or 
served  him  with  any  worthiness  at  all,  without  saying, 
"  I  have  not  done  half  so  well  as  I  would  like  to  do." 
There  is  such  superiority,  such  gentleness,  such  sweet- 
ness, such  sympathy,  such  patience,  such  faithfulness 
of  love,  in  Christ,  that  one  is  ashamed  of  the  best 
service  he  can  render  him,  it  is  so  far  beneath  his 
desert.  In  serving  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  more 
you  suffer,  and  the  more  you  deny  yourself,  the 
greater  is  the  evidence  which  you  give  of  love  for 
liim. 

If  I  hear  that  a*  friend  is  sick,  and  it  is  a  balmy 
summer's  day,  and  he  lives  enshrined  in  beauty,  and 
I  visit  him,  I  give  no  special  proof  of  love  ;  but  if  one 
lives  in  great  poverty,  and  I  am  greatly  pressed  for 
time,  and  it  is  in  the  night,  and  a  storm  is  raging,  and 
I,  in  spite  of  excessive  occupation,  give  up  my  pleas- 
ure and  convenience  and  interest,  and  go  to  the 
squalid  bedside  of  this  poor  person,  and  extend  to 
him  sympathy  and  succor,  I  do  give  evidence  of  love, 
—  more  than  if  I  were  serving  a  crowned  head. 
Therefore,  "  endure  hardness  as  a  good  soldier,"  and 
remember  that  the  more  you  give  the  more  you  get. 

15* 


346  LECTURE-ROOM  TALKS. 

Still,  do  not  give  for  the  sake  of  getting.  Do  not 
make  commerce  of  your  hearts. 

Our  joy  sometimes  comes  to  us  in  an  unexpected 
way.  I  enjoy  my  work.  I  have  fallen  into  a  profes- 
sion that  agrees  with  me.  I  run  with  the  current  all 
the  time.  But,  after  all,  I  now  and  then  get  an  instal- 
ment of  remuneration  that  I  do  not  expect.  I  never 
shall  forget  an  incident  that  took  place  last  week  when 
I  was  in  Hartford.  I  had  stepped  out  into  the  street, 
and  was  about  to  get  into  a  coach,  when  a  plain 
woman,  apparently  in  the  ordinary  circumstances  of 
life,  about  thirty  years  of  age,  with  a  girl  of  ten  or 
twelve,  approached  me,  and  seized  one  of  my  hands 
in  both  of  hers  with  a  convulsive  motion,  and 
pressed  my  hand  with  her  two,  and  said,  in  a  broken, 
agitated  way,  "  Mr.  Beecher,  I  must  take  you  by  the 
hand.  I  want  to  tell  you  what  you  have  done  for  me. 
I  was  nothing  but  a  poor  sewing- woman  "  —  and  then 
she  dropped  my  hand  and  ran.  That  is  all  I  know 
about  it ;  but  that  is  a  good  deal. 

She  was  evidently  a  person  of  sensibility,  and  there 
was  the  mark  of  good  sense  about  her.  She  would 
not  have  overcome  the  instinct  of  reserve  so  far  as  to 
catch  hold  of  a  person's  hand  in  the  street,  and  break 
out  into  that  kind  of  revelation  of  herself,  if  she  had 
not  had  great  reason.  There  is  a  history  there,  though 
I  do  not  know  what  it  is  ;  and  I  feel  as  though  there 
was  something  laid  up  somewhere  for  me.  I  had  part 
of  it  then. 

I  like  to  have  people  come  to  me  and  say,  "  You 
had  good  luck  in  preaching  last  Sunday  "  ;  but  I  like 
more  to  have  persons  come  to  me  with  tears  in  their 


CONCEIT   OF   CHRISTIANS.  347 

eyes,  and  attempt  to  tell  me  how  I  have  done  them 
good,  and  fail  because  they  are  so  overcome  with  emo- 
tion that  they  cannot  speak.  I  regard  admiration  very 
much  as  a  man  who  is  angling  regards  the  bite  of  the 
little  fish  that  run  up  and  nip  at  the  bait.  He  likes 
this ;  but  he  likes  catching  a  fine  large  trout,  and 
landing  him,  a  great  deal  better.  In  the  case  I  have 
just  related  I  had  landed  a  trout.  That  is  the  kind 
I  like. 

0,  to  have  helped  a  soul  is  a  great  thing  !  and 
when  a  man  knows  how  to  strike  the  deep  places  of 
the  heart,  and  sees  the  response,  there  is  no  joy  so 
pure,  so  lasting,  or  so  unselfish,  as  that  which  he  ex- 
periences. You  may  plant  as  many  spiritual  seed  as 
you  please  in  this  world,  and  every  one  of  them  will 
spring  up  into  everlasting  life  ;  and  you  shall  see  its 
fruit  hereafter. 


348  LECTURE-ROOM  TALKS. 

\ 


CONSOLATION    IN    TROUBLE.* 

"VERYBODY  lias  to  pass  through  his  dis- 
cipline in  this  life.  Some  take  it  in  the 
inside,  and  some  on  the  outside.  It  is 
this  discipline  which,  like  the  sculptor's 
chisel  and  mallet,  brings  out  the  divine  likeness,  —  so 
much  so  that  any  man  who  is  without  it,  either  exter- 
nally or  internally,  is  renounced  and  denounced  of 
God,  who  calls  him  a  "  bastard,"  and  says,  explicitly, 
that  every  man  who  has  a  true,  divine  manhood  reach- 
ing out  and  taking  hold  of  the  qualities  and  digni- 
ties and  promises  and  prospects  of  the  divine  nature, 
has  to  go  to  school  to  trouble,  —  must  have  affliction. 
There  are  some  men  whose  business  in  life  seems  to 
be  to  reconcile  warring  elements  in  themselves.  They 
are  described  in  the  seventh  chapter  of  Romans,  where 
the  Apostle  speaks  of  two  men,  as  it  were,  in  one  skin, 
quarrelling  incessantly  ;  one  being  up  and  the  other 
down,  and  vice  versa,  the  spiritual  man  longing  for 
heavenly  things,  and  the  carnal  man  for  earthly  things. 
There  are  a  great  many  persons  whose  whole  business 
in  life  seems  to  be  this  harmonization  of  themselves 
within,  this  fighting  with  that  which  is  evil  in  them- 
selves,—  holding  it  down,  strangling  it,  smothering 
it,  treading  it  out.  This  conflict  goes  on,  sometimes, 
from  one  point  to  another,  to  the  very  end  of  life. 
These  persons  may  have  outward  trouble ;   but  the 

*  Friday  evening,  November  19,  1869. 


CONSOLATION  IN  TROUBLE.  349 

main  and  characteristic  element  of  their  experience  is 
that  they  are  plagued  within. 

Some  men  are  plagued  with  doubts  on  spiritual -sub- 
jects ;  other  men  are  plagued  in  their  consciences  ; 
others  in  their  appetites  and  passions.  There  is  a 
war,  an  insurrection,  in  one  part  or  another  of  their 
nature  against  that  spiritual  conception  of  manhood 
which  they  hold  up,  and  by  which  they  are  trying  to 
live.  It  is  a  hard  fight ;  and  often  such  men  are  dis- 
couraged, and  feel  as  though  there  was  no  hope  for 
them,  and  say,  "  I  must  be  very  bad." 

Other  men  tell  of  their  victories.  Others  speak  of 
their  joys.  Others  say,  "  I  sing  in  twilight,  if  I  sing 
at  all."  Others  compare  themselves  to  the  wretched 
man  that  cried  out,  "  Who  shall  deliver  me  from  the 
body  of  this  death  ?  " 

Now  let  me  say  to  those  who  find  trouble  :  There 
is  one  point  of  view  in  which  there  is  comfort  for  you. 
God  has  called  you  to  this  work ;  and  if  you  are  a 
good  and  faithful  soldier  to  the  end  of  life  ;  if,  by 
the  power  of  Christ,  you  fight  manfully  the  battle  of 
thought  and  feeling  with  temptation,  —  God  is  dealing 
with  you  as  with  sons.  And  though  you  seem  to  be 
making  but  little  progress,  as  compared  with  this  or 
that  singing-bird  of  a  Christian,  after  all,  you  have  a 
lenient  God,  a  pitying  Father  ;  and  he  may  think  bet- 
ter of  your  progress  than  you  yourself  do.  You  are 
going  through  the  dark  part  of  your  life,  it  may  be ; 
nevertheless,  there  will  be  a  time  for  thanksgiving 
and  gratulation  when  the  victory  shall  be  won. 

There  are  a  great  many  persons  who  are  organized 
harmoniously.     They  have  much  to  thank  God  for  in 


350  LECTURE-ROOM   TALKS. 

their  parents,  and  very  little  in  themselves.  They 
were  born  in  good  health,  with  good  digestion,  with 
good  sound  heart  and  lungs,  and  with  such  equipoise 
in  all  their  members  that  there  does  not  seem  to  be 
a  conflict  between  the  different  parts  of  their  nature 
within.  But  I  am  inclined  to  think  that  such  persons 
get  their  troubles  outside. 

If  you  take  a  lighted  candle,  beautiful  and  symmet- 
rical, and  carry  it  out  of  doors  unsheltered,  the  wind 
blows  the  flame  about  in  every  direction.  If  it  is  a 
candle  that  is  not  lighted,  it  makes  no  difference 
whether  it  is  protected  or  not ;  but  the  moment  it  is 
lighted,  the  flame  begins  to  flare  right  and  left,  and 
melt  down  the  body  on  which  it  feeds. 

Now,  take  people  of  a  kind  and  genial  disposition, 
and  put  them  in  a  selfish  world,  and  let  them  under- 
take to  carry  that  disposition  for  the  medication  of 
other  souls,  and  they  are  frequently  jarred  and  jolted 
by  the  discords  which  they  encounter  outside  of  them- 
selves ;  and  they  have  all  the  time  to  fight  with  their 
circumstances.  God  sometimes  puts  a  man  in  such  a 
position  in  life  that  he  is  at  peace  with  himself  and 
out  of  joint  with  the  outward  world ;  and  that  is  a 
very  solemn  situation  to  be  in.  A  man  who  is  thus 
placed  is  ordained  to  be  a  preacher  of  consolation  to 
all  the  world  about  him ;  and  woe  be  to  every  such 
man  who  betrays  his  trust !  In  proportion  as  a  man  is 
harmoniously  organized  within,  and  is  placed  in  out- 
ward circumstances  where  he  has  to  pass  through 
struggles  wliich  develop  in  him  a  rich  experience,  God 
says  to  him,  "  Let  your  struggles  in  those  circumstan- 
ces be  an  example  and  an  encouragement  to  others. 


CONSOLATION   IN   TROUBLE.  351 

Strive  for  their  sake.  Be  to  tliem  something  of  what 
Christ  has  been  to  you,  and  what  he  is  to  all  the 
world."  If  a  man  takes  this  equipment  within, —  the 
harmonious  organization  with  which  he  has  been  en- 
dowed, —  and  makes  it  a  means  of  gratifying  his  self- 
ishness, and  sits  down  for  his  own  pure  delight,  he 
has  betrayed  his  trust  most  grievously.  God  requires 
very  much  of  those  who  have  no  struggle  of  their  own 
to  wage. 

But  for  all  those  (and  they  constitute  ninety-nine 
parts  in  a  hundred)  who  have  their  struggles  within, 
or  within  and  without,  there  is  a  great  deal  of  comfort 
and  consolation  in  the  Word  of  God,  provided  they 
accept  the  situation  and  maintain  the  conflict. 

"  Casting  all  your  care  upon  him,  for  he  careth  for 
you.  Be  sober,  be  vigilant ;  because  your  adversary, 
the  Devil,  as  a  roaring  lion,  walketh  about,  seeking 
whom  he  may  devour.  Whom  resist  steadfast  in  the 
faith,  knowing  that  the  same  afflictions  are  accom- 
plished in  your  brethren  that  are  in  the  world." 

It  is  said  that  "  misery  loves  company."  There  is 
a  side  of  that  proverb  which  is  very  selfish,  but  there 
is  also  a  side  of  it  which  affords  a  great  deal  of  joy. 
For  a  man  to  know  that  others  are  suffering  is  no 
comfort ;  but  for  a  mail  to  feel  that  others,  suffering, 
gain  victories,  and  that  he,  suffering,  and  following 
their  example,  may  gain  victories,  is  a  great  comfort. 

"  But  the  God  of  all  grace,  who  hath  called  us  unto 
his  eternal  glory  by  Christ  Jesus,  after  that  ye  have 
suffered  awhile,  make  you  perfect,  stablish,  strengthen, 
settle  you.  To  him  be  glory  and  dominion  forever 
and  ever.     Amen." 


852  LECTURE-ROOM  TALKS. 

The  marrow  of  it  is  this  :  The  Crod  of  all  grace,  ivho 
hath  called  us  unto  his  eternal  glory  hy  Christ  Jesus, 
after  that  ye  have  suffered  awhile,  make  you  perfect. 
0,  to  feel  that,  is  our  consolation  while  we  are  in  the 
dirt ! 

Did  you  ever  see  a  sculptor  make  a  statuette  or 
statue  ?  He  begins  with  dirt,  you  know.  He  has  a 
few  rude  sticks  for  a  frame  ;  and  then  he  slaps  on  the 
clay.  "When  it  is  tempered  about  right,  he  roughs  out 
the  general  form.  Then  he  begins  to  scrape  off  the 
plaster.  Then  he  works  for  symmetry,  and  lines,  and 
grace,  and  proportions.  Then  he  works  for  resem- 
blances. And  at  last,  as  the  work  is  becoming  con- 
summated, he  puts  on  the  finest  touches.  And  all 
the  way  through  it  is  dirt,  dirt,  dirt !  But  this  is  not 
lialf  so  dirty  as  bringing  up  men  in  this  world  of 
temptation  and  passion,  where  all  their  desires  are 
overflowing  like  a  flood.  Yet,  as  the  sculptor  goes  on 
working  thus  with  this  lifeless  material,  to  bring  out 
at  last  the  finest  lines  and  lineaments,  that  the  model, 
when  completed,  may  be  transmuted  into  the  glowing 
marble,  or  bronze,  or  silver,  or  gold,  as  the  case  may 
be,  —  so  God  is  dealing  with  us ;  so  he  is  building 
us  up :  he  is  taking  off  and  putting  on,  that  after  a 
while,  when  the  work  is  completed,  we  may  be  trans- 
muted into  higher  forms,  and  be  as  pillars  in  the  tem- 
ple of  our  God,  and  become  men  in  Christ  Jesus, 
glowing  with  all  the  light  of  blessedness  and  immor- 
tality. 

Now,  to  those  that  are  in  the  midst  of  trial,  to  those 
that  are  in  the  crucible,  walking  through  the  fire, 
there  is  this  consolation :  your  troubles  and  trials  are 


CONSOLATION  IN  TROUBLE.  353 

watched  of  God,  and  you  are  beloved  of  him  ;  and 
though  you  may  be  tried  with  great  temptations  to 
wickedness,  yet,  if  you  are  "  steadfast  in  the  faith," 
he  will  not  forget  you,  nor  give  you  up,  nor  suffer  you 
to  be  tempted  more  than  you  arc  able  to  bear,  but 
with  every  temptation  will  open  a  door  of  escape. 


354  LECTURE-ROOM   TALKS. 


PERSONAL   DUTY   IN   RELIGION.* 

THINK  there  is  more  squandering  of 
thought  and  feeling  on  the  subject  of  per- 
sonal duty  in  religion  than  upon  almost  any- 
other  subject.  There  are  a  thousand  ways 
in  which  men  can  improve  intellectually  and  gsstheti- 
cally  ;  but  the  motives  to  it  are  not  rolled  upon  them 
as  are  the  motives  to  a  godly  life.  The  force  of  edu- 
cation, surrounding  social  influences,  the  preaching 
of  the  truth,  the  solicitation  of  personal  friends,  —  all 
these  awaken  and  stir  up  the  moral  sense  of  men. 
And  not  only  men  who  are  living,  comparatively 
speaking,  godless  lives,  but  men  who  are  positively 
wicked,  carry  unrestful  thoughts  with  them. 

You  know  how  it  is  with  lameness.  Sometimes 
there  is  what  we  call  a  "  stitch."  There  is  a  sore 
muscle  that  lies  buried  in  the  side.  If  you  carry 
yourself  in  a  certain  way,  you  do  not  feel  it ;  but  if 
you  happen  to  turn  a  little,  you  get  a  wrench  which 
brings  you  right  back  again.  "When  you  have  such  a 
sore  muscle  about  you,  wherever  you  walk  you  have 
a  consciousness  of  it,  and  you  carry  yourself  so  as  to 
keep  it  from  being  twisted  and  hurt. 

Now,  even  wicked  men,  given  up  to  revelries,  have 
a  sore  place  about  them.  There  is  a  sore  spot  that 
the  mother  left.  There  is  a  sore  spot  that  their  own 
experience  has  caused.     There  is  a  sore  conscience 

*  Friday  evening,  November  26,  1869. 


PERSONAL   DUTY   IN  EELIGION.  355 

buried  in  them.  And  every  once  in  a  while,  when 
they  arc  inadvertently  carrying  on  their  wicked  ways, 
they  give  it  a  twist,  and  it  sends  a  pang  throngh  them. 
And  in  company  or  alone,  wherever  they  go,  and  what- 
ever they  do,  they  are  conscious  that  there  is  this  sore 
place,  as  it  were,  in  their  moral  nature. 

It  is  not  particularly  reputable  to  be  living  in  such 
contrariety  to  a  man's  own  best  judgment ;  but  the 
knowledge  of  the  fact  should  go  far  to  determine 
Christian  duty.  There  is  in  almost  every  man  who  is 
armed  against  religion  a  power  that  is  in  favor  of  re- 
ligion ;  there  is  a  voice  in  every  man's  heart  that 
speaks  for  religion ;  and  if  you  can  parley  with  him, 
and  get  access  to  that  inward  feeling,  there  is  hope 
that  you  can  save  him. 

As  it  is  in  respect  to  those  who  are  going  on  in  open 
or  concealed  wickedness,  so  is  it  in  respect  to  those 
who  are  living  what  we  call  moral,  but  not  spiritual 
lives, — in  external  morality,  and  not  in  an  active, 
vital  relation  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  There  are 
times  of  great  uneasiness  in  the  experience  of  such 
persons.  They  feel,  in  sum  total,  a  hundred  times 
over,  all  that  a  man  needs  to  feel  in  going  through 
conversion  and  becoming  eminent  in  Christian  life. 
No  man  will  ever  suffer  in  dying  half  as  much  as  he 
suffers  in  living.  If  you  collect  all  the  aches  of  any 
man  during  one  year,  they  amount  to  positive  pain 
enough  to  kill  him  fifty  times  over.  Take  a  man  with 
an  aching  tooth.  He  nourishes  it,  and  i30ultico6  it, 
and  curses  it,  and  threatens  to  have  it  out.  It  keeps 
him  awake  all  night ;  and  he  says,  "  In  the  morning 
I  will  fix  it  so  that  it  will  not  trouble  me  any  more," 


356  LECTURE-ROOM   TALKS. 

But  in  the  morning  it  does  not  ache,  and  he  changes 
his  mind.  At  dinner  he  eats  something  that  sets  it  to 
aching  again  ;  and  away  he  starts  for  the  dentist's, 
and  says,  "  I  will  have  an  end  of  this  "  ;  but  when  he 
gets  to  the  door,  it  has  stopped  aching,  and  he  says, 
"  Maybe  it  will  not  trouble  me  any  more  ;  I  guess  I 
won't  go  in."  And  while  he  is  in  the  cold  air, 
and  the  nerves  are  less  susceptible,  it  behaves  very 
well,  and  he  does  not  think  much  about  it.  But  to- 
ward evening  on  comes  the  toothache  again ;  and  he 
says,  "  What  a  fool  I  was  this  morning !  If  I  had 
had  this  tooth  out  then,  my  suffering  would  have  been 
all  over  :  I  wish  I  had." 

I  have  seen  just  such  experiences  in  regard  to 
men's  moral  condition.  I  know  wicked  persons  who 
are  so  profoundly  uneasy  that  they  cannot  keep  com- 
pany with  themselves.  I  know  men  that  are  so  much 
exercised  in  their  mind  that  they  say  to  themselves, 
*'  Well,  it  is  no  use  ;  I  will  go  and  see  the  minister," 
—  for  he  is  the  dentist  in  such  cases.  There  are  per- 
sons —  I  have  been  told  about  them  —  who  have  come 
to  my  door,  and  walked  by  just  as  if  they  did  not  come 
to  see  me.  There  are  persons  that  have  done  it  not 
once,  nor  twice,  but  often.  Then  there  are  persons 
that  have  come  to  see  me,  and  have  commenced  talk- 
ing about  something  else  besides  their  own  personal 
condition,— ^  the  thing  which  brought  them  to  me. 
They  have  gone  through  enough  embarrassment,  and 
unrest,  and  conscience-pain  to  have  delivered  their 
souls  a  hundred  times,  if  they  had  had  the  manliness 
and  straightforwardness  to  carry  out  their  moral  in- 
tentions. 


PERSONAL  DUTY   IN   RELIGION.  357 

All  these  iiiicasiiiesses  within  a  man  are  God's 
voices.  They  are  the  workings  in  the  soul  of  man  of 
that  divine  Spirit  by  which  we  are  enlightened,  and 
by  which  we  are  called  from  death  unto  life.  They 
are  the  influences  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  by  which  we 
are  sanctified,  and  which  we  arc  exhorted  not  to 
grieve. 

Now,  to  such  persons  as  I  have  described,  if  there 
are  any  here  to-night,  let  me  say  a  few  words. 

1.  Be  true  to  your  own  convictions.  Be  true  to' 
your  own  best  thoughts.  Do  not  dismiss  them.  You 
may  dismiss  worldly  business  thoughts  or  not,  accord- 
ing to  your  own  pleasure  ;  but  these  thoughts  and 
feelings  of  which  I  have  been  speaking  have  to  do  with 
your  own  highest  life.  There  is  eternity  in  them. 
There  is  everlasting  joy  or  everlasting  woe  in  them. 
If  they  are  consummated,  they  carry  in  them  holiness, 
they  carry  in  them  reconciliation  to  God,  they  carry 
in  them  hope  through  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  they 
carry  in  them  "joy  unspeakable  and  full  of  glory." 
Then  let  them  blossom  and  bring  forth  their  fruit. 

2.  Of  all  things  in  the  world,  do  not  wait  to  see  if 
your  convictions  will  not  do  something  of  themselves. 
When  the  dairyman  brings  in  his  overflowing  pail 
from  the  yard,  and  pours  the  milk  into  the  pans,  and 
sets  them  on  their  various  shelves,  there  is  nothing 
better  than  that  these  pans  should  stand  still,  that  the 
cream  may  rise  ;  and  many  people  seem  to  treat  their 
hearts  as  though  they  were  pans  of  milk,  which  should 
stand  still  while  the  cream  rises  on  them.  But  noth- 
ing comes  from  involuntary  life.  "  Work  out,''^  says 
God,  "  your  owri  salvation."     It  is  not  passivity,  but 


358  LECTURE-ROOM   TALKS. 

activity,  that  befits  the  nature  of  that  which  you  carry 
within  yourselves.  Therefore,  if  you  have  a  yearning 
desire  for  something,  carry  it  forward  and  ratify  it. 

Do  you  ask  what  you  shall  do  ?  One  of  the  first 
things  I  exhort  every  man  to  do  is  this :  Look  and  see 
what  sin,  what  hindrance,  what  entanglement,  what 
yoke  or  bondage,  there  is  in  you.  Begin  that  way, 
but  do  not  feel  that  the  work  is  accomplished  when 
you  have  done  that.  That  is  only  the  preparation. 
As,  when  a  person  that  is  working  in  mortar  or  clay 
is  summoned  to  go  and  see  a  friend,  he  begins  by 
throwing  off  his  working-clothes  and  washing  his 
hands  as  a  preliminary  step  to  getting  ready,  so  a  man 
who  is  going  to  see  God  should  begin  to  prepare  him- 
self by  breaking  off  his  outward  sin.  If  it  is  love  of 
liquor,  if  it  is  any  dishonest  trait,  if  it  is  any  cherished 
hatred,  if  it  is  any  bitter  animosity,  if  it  is  any  illicit 
attachment,  if  it  is  an  entanglement  of  any  kind,  the 
first  step  for  you  is  to  cut  loose  from  it.  If  it  requires 
you  to  break  with  companions  that  are  leading  you  on 
in  sin,  break  with  them  at  once.  Nothing  will  test  a 
man's  earnestness  quicker  than  this.  If  you  do  that, 
you  are  in  a  state  in  which,  even  though  you  are  not  a 
Christian,  there  is  much  hope  for  you. 

3.  Find  some  friend  to  whom  you  can  speak  on  this 
matter.  If  it  is  necessary  that  you  should  go  outside 
of  your  own  circle  to  find  that  friend,  go  out.  Make 
bold,  for  once,  to  ask  help  of  another. 

If  one  is  sick  in  a  great  boarding-house,  and  is  lia- 
ble to  drop  off  in  the  night,  he  would  give  everything 
in  the  world  if  he  could  find  a  person  who,  hearing 
him  call,  would  step  in  and  see  him,  lest  he  should  die, 


PERSONAL   DUTY   IN  KELIGION.  359 

and  have  no  one  with  him.  How  much  more,  when  a 
man's  soul  is  in  a  perilous  condition,  should  he  want 
somebody  to  confide  in  !  And  there  is  no  reason  why, 
under  such  circumstances,  you  should  not  seek  to  in- 
terest some  one  in  your  behalf.  When  a  man  shuts 
up  his  religious  thoughts  and  feelings  inside,  he  is  like 
a  man  who  builds  a  fire  and  shuts  both  the  vent  and 
the  flue.  A  fire  cannot  burn  without  air.  Everybody 
that  has  had  any  experience  opens  the  flue  and  the 
draught,  and  lets  the  air  through  ;  and  then  there  is  a 
flame.  But  people,  when  they  try  to  build  a  fire  in 
their  souls,  put  in  the  material  and  shut  it  up  as  tight 
as  they  can,  so  that  nobody  would  suspect  it.  That  is 
not  the  way.  Commit  yourselves.  "  But,"  says  one, 
"  I  do  not  know  which  way  it  will  go."  Well,  for 
that  very  reason,  speak  to  somebody,  and  so  make  it 
go  right.  "  But  suppose,  after  speaking  to  somebody, 
it  should  turn  out,  as  it  often  does,  to  be  only  smoke  ? " 
Then  that  friend  would  chide  you  ;  and  it  is  because 
you  know  he  would  hold  you  to  the  purpose  with 
which  you  set  out  that  you  are  afraid  to  speak  to  him. 
You  are  irresolute  on  that  account.  But  open  your 
heart  to  some  one.  Bring  near  to  you  some  faithful 
friend.  There  is  no  better  friend  than  a  man's  own 
mother,  there  is  no  better  friend  than  a  man's  own 
father,  if  they  arc  truly  Christian.  If  you  are  re- 
moved from  tliem,  it  is  sometimes  the  case  that  your 
wife  or  husband  is  the  best  person  that  you  can  go  to ; 
and  all  the  more  if  you  do  not  want  to,  —  if  your 
pride  does  not  want  to.  Why,  I  know  of  cases  where, 
if  a  man  would  humble  himself,  and  overcome  his 
pride  and  combativeness,  so  as  to  go  to  his  wife  and 


360  LECTUEE-ROOM   TALKS. 

say,  "  My  dear,  much  as  I  have  said  about  religion,  I 
now  see  that  I  am  a  sinner  before  God,  and  that 
I  must  have  it,"  he  would  find  all  the  rest  easy.  I 
have  seen  whole  struggles  like  that  waged  in  souls, 
and  have  found  that  when  a  man  could  bow  his  head 
and  speak  thus  to  the  intimate  companion  of  his  life, 
all  his  trouble  was  over. 

Go,  then,  and  speak  to  your  pastor.  Go  and  speak 
to  your  brother.  Go  and  speak  to  some  Christian  man 
that  you  have  faith  in.  Speak  to  somebody.  Let 
your  soul  have  a  partner  in  travail  and  labor. 

4.  Do  not  feel  that  you  need  to  go  on  from  day  to 
day  and  from  week  to  week  through  a  long  process. 
The  reconciliation  of  a  man's  soul  with  Christ  is,  I 
will  not  say  one  of  the  easiest,  but  one  of  the  simplest, 
things  in  life. 

Have  you  ever  had  a  quarrel  with  your  father  and 
mother  ?  You  have,  unless  you  have  been  an  exceed- 
ingly good  boy.  Do  not  you  recollect  how  you  did 
some  wrong  that  you  did  not  want  your  parents  to 
know ;  and  how  you  feared  that  they  would,  find  it 
out ;  and  how  you  looked  to  see  if  they  knew  it,  after 
the  servant  had  threatened  to  tell  them,  and  thought 
they  did  when  they  did  not ;  how  all  this  time  you 
shrank  from  them  ;  and  how,  by  and  by,  they  expressed 
a  confidence  in  you  which  showed  that  tliey  did  not 
know  it ;  and  how  an  impulse  came  over  you  to  make 
a  clean  breast  of  the  matter,  and  you  went  to  your 
mother  and  burst  into  tears,  and  told  her  yourself,  and 
put  your  head  in  her  lap,  and  cried  ;  and  how  you  felt 
better ;  and  how,  the  first  thing  you  knew,  her  hand  was 
on  your  hair,  and  she  said,  "  Well,  my  child,  I  am  sorry 


PERSONAL   DUTY  IN  RELIGION.  361 

you  did  wrong  ;  but  you  have  done  right  now  in  com- 
ing to  me  and  telling  mc.  I  do  not  believe  you  will 
do  it  any  more.  Look  up,  and  kiss  me  "  ;  and  how  slie 
put  her  arms  about  you  and  drew  you  to  her  ?  Was 
it  not  the  sweetest  and  best  way,  when  you  had  done 
wrong,  to  go  and  tell  your  mother,  and  get  her  bless- 
ing ?  If  you  do  not  know,  I  do,  how  good  it  was,  when 
I  had  done  wrong,  to  be  reconciled,  so  that  I  could  go 
on  again  with  a  light  heart,  singing  like  a  bird,  —  for 
I  could  sing  when  I  was  a  boy. 

Now  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is  dearer  than  any 
mother,  sweeter  than  any  parent,  more  tender  than 
any  lover,  better  than  any  friend.  Most  gracious  and 
helpful  is  your  God.  And  go  to  him.  On  your  way 
you  may  stop  and  tell  your  minister  or  friend  ;  but  go 
straight  to  God,  and  say,  "  Father,  I  have  done  wrong ; 
take  me  and  help  me." 

It  is  a  shame  for  a  man  to  say  that  he  must  wait  and 
do  this  thing  prudently ;  that  he  does  not  want  to  be 
excited ;  that  he  ought  to  be  moderate.  You  know 
you  do  not  need  to  wait  an  hour  or  a  moment.  The 
reconciliation  of  a  man's  soul  with  God  is  the  work  of 
minutes,  and  not  of  days.  There  is  not  a  person  who 
does  not  know  enough  to  lift  his  heart  up  before  God 
and  say,  "  From  this  hour  I  take  thee  to  be  my  God, 
and  thy  law  to  be  my  rule." 

Do  you  ask,  "  Will  he  keep  that  covenant  ?  "  He 
will  begin  to  keep  it.  Suppose,  when  a  man  has  broken 
his  leg,  and  the  surgeon  has  just  set  it,  men  stand- 
ing by  and  looking  on  should  say,  "  Is  that  leg  well  ?  " 
No,  it  is  not  well  ;  but  it  is  set,  and  it  will  get  well. 
It  will  be  some  time  before  he  can  rest  his  body  on  it, 

16 


362  LECTUEE-ROOM  TALKS. 

and  it  will  be  years  before  it  will  be  as  strong  as  it 
used  to  be  ;  but  it  is  set,  and  now  every  drop  of  blood 
is  carrying  new  matter  to  cement  and  mend  the  old 
crack.  And  when  a  man  has  thrown  his  soul  on  God, 
is  he  cured  of  sin  ?  No.  But  he  has  begun  to  live 
with  God's  favor,  he  has  begun  to  learn  obedience, 
he  is  in  the  right  way,  he  is  under  the  control  of  the 
law  of  love,  and  by  the  help  of  God  he  will  be  saved. 


HELPFUL   ASPECTS   OF   CHRIST.  363 


HELPFUL  ASPECTS  OF  CHRIST.* 


SUPPOSE  all  of  us  think,  at  times,  of  meet- 
ing the  Saviour  in  heaven.     I  suppose  that 
at  times,  and  in  a  general  way,  every  one  has 
the  vision  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.    Nat- 
urally borrowing  the  figures  of  the  New  Testament,  we 
imagine  the  scene  of  his  coming  with  all  the  glory  of  his 
Father  and  with  all  his  angels.     We  call  up,  perhaps 
unconsciously,  the  tracery  of  some  picture  which  has 
represented  this  theme,  and  dwell  upon  it.      But   I 
think  every  devout  person  who  has  made  use  of  the 
Saviour's  presence  by  faith  to  overcome  temptation, 
and  to  recover  himself  from  sin,  who  has  associated 
his  life  intimately  with   the   conscious   presence  of 
Christ,  thinks  more  than  he  is  aware  of  the  helpful 
aspects  of  Christ.    These  incidental,  glancing  thoughts 
which  we  have  are  frequently  truer  and  deeper  than 
those  which  we  think  on  purpose.     It  is  apt  to  be 
so   through  life.     The   things  which   we   do   uncon- 
sciously are,  as  a  general  rule,  better  done  than  the 
things  which  we  attempt  to  do  well,  in  every  relation 
in  life.     And  so  I  think  those  fire-sparks,  as  it  were, 
which  fly  off  from  our  minds  almost  unbeknown  to 
ourselves,  are   frequently   more  precious  than    those 
which  we  strike  off  on  purpose.     To  sit  down  on  Sun- 
day, and   read,  and  attempt  to  bring  up  before  our 
minds  a  picture,  is  most  unsatisfactory.    But  when  we 
*  Friday  evening,  December  3,  1869. 


364  LECTURE-ROOM   TALKS. 

are  almost  worn  out  and  discouraged,  there  sometimes 
comes  a  glancing  thought  of  Christ's  patience  with  us 
and  of  his  sympathy  for  us.  "We  are  not  thinking 
whether  he  is  or  is  not  divine.  All  we  have  is  a  con- 
sciousness that  there  is  the  ideal  of  Christ  brought 
near  to  us,  bearing  us  up,  and  lending  us  his  strength. 
It  may  go  almost  in  the  moment  that  gave  it  birth, 
but  it  is  real. 

I  have  sometimes  seen  parents,  in  playing  with  their 
children,  go  from  without  to  the  window,  or  behind  the 
leaves  of  a  bower,  — the  children  not  knowing  of  their 
presence,  — just  opening  a  space  large  enough  to  show 
the  eye  or  the  brow,  and  perhaps  speaking  a  name,  and 
then,  as  soon  as  the  children  caught  a  glance  of  them, 
disappear ;  and  the  children,  with  laughter  and  glee, 
would  pursue  them.  There  is  a  piquancy  in  such 
sportiveness,  to  the  child's  affection  not  only,  but  to 
his  curiosity. 

Now  it  seems  to  me  that  there  are  such  effects  pro- 
duced by  these  momentary  outlooks  of  Christ  upon  us. 
Where  we  have  been  in  great  grief,  where  the  days 
have  been  sodden  and  heavy,  where  the  current  of 
life  seems  to  have  turned  to  mud,  which  has  no  flow 
in  it,  and  we  are  bemired,  —  then  often  there  comes  to 
us  out  of  heaven  a  sense  of  Christ's  love  and  life- 
giving  power,  and  of  Christ  saying  to  us,  "  Because  I 
live,  ye  shall  live  also.  If  ye  suffer  with  me,  ye  shall 
reign  with  me."  The  thing  itself  may  last  only  a  mo- 
ment, but  the  sweetness  lasts  for  years. 
\  C  In  looking  up  into  the  heavenly  land,  the  sense  of 
'^  '-  -  Christ  to  me  seems  as  real  as  the  last  earthly  experi- 
ence through  which  I  have  gone.     Sometimes  it  is  an 


HELPFUL  ASPECTS  OF  CHRIST.         365 

ever-changing  presentation  which  I  have,  full-orbed, 
and  advanced  to  the  very  height  of  transcendent  glory. 
At  other  times  Christ  seems  to  me  most  companion- 
able, and  I  fancy  that  I  walk  with  him,  just  as  his 
disciples  walked  with  him  when  he  was  on  the  earth, 
and  talk  with  him.  At  times  I  see  him  to  be  potential 
in  mercy.  At  other  times  I  see  him  encouraging  and 
most  sweetly  winning.  But  I  think  the  aspect  of 
Christ  which  predominates  is  that  in  which  he  shows 
himself  a  Saviour  ;  in  which  he  is  seen  to  be  saving 
men,  —  saving  them  from  danger,  saving  them  from 
temptation,  saving  them  from  sin,  saving  them  from 
those  snares  which  sin  brings  upon  them,  saving  them 
from  those  pitfalls  into  which  transgressions  plunge 
them,  and  out  of  which  it  is  so  hard  for  them  to 
climb. 

The  view  of  Christ  as  saving  his  people,  —  as  work- 
ing in  them,  working  for  them,  working  by  the  great 
round  of  providence,  working  by  his  special  manifesta- 
tions, and  working  in  them  to  will  and  to  do  ;  the  as- 
pect of  Christ  as  one  having  a  saving  nature,  and  that 
spirit  in  which  he  says, "  I  came  not  to  condemn  the 
world,"  in  which  he  calls  men  to  him,  and  which  he 
manifested  in  laying  down  his  life  that  he  might  save 
the  world, — this  aspect  of  Christ  is  the  most  precious 
to  me,  for  my  own  sake,  and  for  the  sake  of  my  fellow- 
men. 

But  there  is  nothing  so  piteous  as  the  weakness  of 
men,  and  their  trouble  and  suffering  under  sin.  Life 
is  full  of  it.  Life  sometimes  seems  to  me  like  a  boil- 
ing caldron,  and  men  like  bubbles  that  come  to  the 
surface  and  burst  at  every  moment.     Still  they  rise 


366       '  LECTURE-ROOM  TALKS. 

and  perish,  and  still  the  caldron  boils.  And  at  times 
I  have  the  darkest  thoughts  as  to  such  a  world  as  this, 
seemingly  so  abandoned.  If  I  lost  faitli  that  the  heart 
of  the  world  was  love,  and  that  it  was  still  di-iven 
by  the  energizing  and  re-creating  power  of  God,  I 
should  lose  faith  in  everything.  I  should  hardly  want 
to  live  ;  or,  if  I  did,  I  should  want  to  shield  my  eyes 
from  the  suffering  that  is  in  the  world.  And  the  truth 
that  that  Christ  who  was  in  the  flesh  now  lives,  ad- 
vanced at  the  right  hand  of  God,  clothed  with  power, 
and  having  a  sympathetic  heart ;  that  he  is  still  labor- 
ing to  save  men  ;  that  those  who  have  sinned  against 
him  have  no  other  friend  that  is  so  near  to  them,  that 
is  doing  so  much  for  them,  and  that  is  willing  to  do 
so  much  for  them,  —  this  truth  is  extremely  precious 
to  me. 

r   A  man  who  analyzes  human  nature  as  much  as  I 

/  have  to,  and  sees  as  much  as  I  do  of  the  aspects  of  life, 

if  he  be  of  a  stern  nature,  grows  harder  and  harder 

as  he  grows  older,  and  more  and  more  hates  sin.     If, 

1  on  tlie  other  hand,  he  is  affectionate  and  sympathetic, 

I  as  I  am,  he  pities  sin  as  he  grows  older.     I  do  not 

!/   ^     /  think  I  condemn  sin  any  less  than  I  should,  I  see  the 

'  vv^     \  wickedness,  the  exceeding  sinfulness,  of  it ;  but  as  I 

I  grow  older,  and  see  men  tossed  to  and  fro,  and  see 
their  tears,  and  listen  to  their  groans,  and  hear  them 

.  i  saying,  "  I  would  do  good,  but  evil  is  present  with 
j  me.  The  good  that  I  would  I  do  not,  but  the  evil 
\  which  I  would  not  that  I  do.     0  wretched  man  that 

I I  am  !  wlio  shall  deliver  me  from  the  body  of  this 
death  ?  "  —  then  I,  as  did  the  Apostle,  "  thank  God  " 
that  there  is  One  who  can  and  will  deliver  men.     I 


HELPFUL  ASPECTS  OF  CHRIST.         367 

thank  God  that  Jesus  Christ  is  at  work  in  the  world, 
that  he  has  pity  for  men,  that  he  is  going  forth  still, 
hy  his  Spirit,  to  seek  them  and  to  save  them.  It  is  my 
growing  consolation.  It  is  my  only  hope  for  myself 
and  for  others. 

When  I  know  what  mischiefs  are  going  on,  and 
when  I  know  what  necessities  there  are  in  the  great 
congregation,  my  heart  would  break  if  I  thought  there 
was  no  power  but  that  which  I  can  bring  to  bear.  I 
feel  every  day  what  the  Apostle  meant  by  "  the  fool- 
ishness of  preaching."  It  seems  to  me  like  foolishness 
when  arrayed  against  the  great  swell  and  swing  and 
gigantic  development  of  human  depravity.  But  if 
God  is  at  work,  and  all  divine  sources  of  power  are 
at  work,  then  I  have  hope. 

And  if  a  man  is  bestead  and  begins  to  cry  out,  I 
believe  he  can  break  his  bonds,  I  believe  he  can  de- 
stroy the  snare,  I  believe  he  can  lift  himself  out  of 
the  pit.  I  believe  that  by  faith  in  Him  who  came  to 
open  the  prison  doors  and  deliver  the  captives,  any 
man  can  recover  himself,  and  become  a  child  of  God. 


368 


LECTURE-ROOM   TALKS. 


A  LOOK  AT  THE  PAST  YEAH.^ 


UR  cliiircli  year  is  just  closed  ;  and  it  is 
about  the  close  of  the  secular  year.  This 
month  and  all  circumstances  conspire  to 
lead  us  to  look  back  at  the  way  in  which 
God  has  brought  us  during  the  last  year  as  a  church, 
and  also  at  the  effects  of  God's  dealings  with  us  in  our 
own  disposition,  and  upon  our  Christian  experience  at 
large.  I,  of  course,  from  ray  very  position  and  duty, 
am  obliged  to  study  in  my  thought  the  state  of  feel- 
ing, the  general  tendency,  of  the  congregation  all  the 
time.  Therefore,  in  some  sense,  every  week  is  to  me 
just  like  a  closing  week.  It  is  a  week  in  which  I  take 
the  bearings  of  things. 

I  have  never  been  accustomed  to  preach  according 
to  the  class  of  subjects  belonging  to  a  system  of  the- 
ology. I  have  preached  very  much  as  a  mother  feeds 
her  children,  giving  them  the  things  wliich  their  health 
requires.  Their  age  and  their  circumstances  have  to  be 
taken  into  consideration.  I  have  preached  very  much 
on  the  plan  that  the  physician  follows  in  giving  his 
prescriptions.  His  wisdom  sometimes  consists  in  not 
giving  anything.  I  tliink  that  often  what  a  man  does 
not  do,  although  there  is  no  reckoning  of  it,  amounts 
to  a  good  deal.  What  one  does  do  is  determined  by 
the  state  of  the  patient,  —  by  his  needs  and  necessities. 


Friday  evening,  December  10,  1869. 


A  LOOK  AT  THE  PAST  YEAR.         369 

And  my  whole   habit  of  preaching  has  been  largely 
founded  on  that  principle. 

I  do  not  say  this  in  criticism  of  another  style  which 
may  be  applicable  to  certain  conditions  of  the  com- 
munity, or  to  certain  communities  where  the  church 
is  almost  the  only  source  from  which  moral  truth  is  to 
be  learned.  It  is  different  with  us.  That  which  I  am 
perpetually  watching  is  the  spiritual  vitality  which  is 
produced.  I  do  not  judge  of  my  preaching  from  the 
immediate  effects  which  I  perceive,  although  there  is 
the  presumption  that  God's  good  Spirit  is  with  us 
when  in  our  congregation  men  are  melted  to  tears  on 
the  presentation  of  truth.  When  there  is  enthusiasm 
of  listening,  it  is  a  good  sign,  and  a  comforting  sign, 
and  a  sign  that  is  very  helpful  to  him  who  has  the 
Lord's  message  to  deliver.  But,  after  all,  it  is  not  in- 
fallible. The  sympathies  may  be  moved  without  the 
moral  life  being  very  much  stirred  at  the  bottom. 
And  so  it  is  the  working  out  of  these  things  that  is 
watched  for. 

In  looking  over  the  congregation  (I  speak  of  the 
general  course  of  events,  and  not  of  exceptional 
cases)  I  have  the  impression  —  and  the  comfort  of 
having  it  —  that  the  church  and  congregation  have 
been,  for  the  last  year,  on  the  whole,  in  a  quickened 
and  truly  growing  state.  There  has  not  been  that 
outbreaking  which  we  call  a  revival ;  there  has  not 
been  that  zeal  and  enthusiasm  and  joy  Avhich  come  in 
certain  great  harvest  periods  ;  but  still  I  think  there 
has  been  a  great  deal  of  enjoyment  and  a  great  deal  of 
advancement  in  the  Christian  life,  in  the  cases  of 
multitudes,  —  I  think  there  are  many  who  are  walking 

16*  X 


370  LECTUKE-ROOM   TALKS.  . 

far  more  clearly  by  faith  than  they  have  clone  before.  I 
think  the  truth  in  our  midst,  during  the  last  year,  has 
comforted  men  in  trouble,  strengthened  men  that  felt 
"weak,  and  inspired  men  with  a  nobler  ideal  of  life.  I 
have  reason  to  believe  that  there  are  multitudes  of 
persons  who  are  endeavoring  to  live  far  more  manly 
and  Christianly,  and  to  carry  out  the  spirit  of  the 
Gospel  in  all  the  details  and  parts  of  their  lives.  I 
know  that  there  are  a  great  many  who  are  silently 
and  obscurely  bearing  the  yoke,  and  carrying  the 
cross,  and  doing  it  for  Christ's  sake,  with  heroism. 

It  is  very  sweet  to  me  to  think  that  Christ  is  happy 
when  he  is  among  us.  I  think  he  is.  He,  of  course, 
finds  none  among  us  that  are  without  blemish  (that 
will  take  place  only  when  he  presents  us  without 
blemish  before  his  Father's  throne)  ;  but  I  think  he 
finds  among  us  hearts  that  are  open  to  receive  him, 
and  that  are  growing  into  the  likeness  of  his  spirit, 
and  that  are  attempting  to  carry  it  out  among  their 
companions,  and  labor  for  it.  I  have  reason  to  be- 
lieve that  a  great  many  listen  to  the  truth,  and  are 
convicted  by  it,  whose  conviction  does  not  leave  them. 
I  have  reason  to  hope  that  there  are  a  great  many 
cases  of  persons  who  erelong  will  openly  avow  them- 
selves on  the  Lord's  side. 

This  spiritual  vitality,  this  tone  in  the  heart  and 
conscience  and  feeling  of  the  church,  is  a  matter  of 
very  great  satisfaction  and  comfort  to  me.  For  out- 
ward growth  does  not  make  strength.  Mere  numbers 
and  external  forms  do  not  make  us  strong.  After  all, 
it  is  that  which  the  church  has  in  common  with  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  it  is  nearness  to  him,  it  is  sympathy 


A  LOOK  AT  THE  PAST  YEAR.         371 

with  his  spirit,  it  is  the  inspiration  of  tlie  Holy  Ghost 
by  which  they  are  living  better  lives,  —  it  is  these 
things  that  show  what  the  strength  of  a  church  is. 

Besides  this,  I  have  seen  with  very  great  joy  the 
success  of  those  continued  efforts  which  are  making 
for  the  instruction  of  the  young  in  our  Sunday-schools 
and  Bible-classes  ;  and  also  the  labors  of  so  many  of 
our  brethren  and  sisters  in  preaching  the  Gospel  to 
the  poor  and  needy  and  in  general  missionary  work. 
I  have  reason  to  think,  that,  although  the  church  has 
never  come  up  to  its  full  strength  and  privilege,  yet 
it  has  been  greatly  blessed  in  its  activity.  And  on  the 
whole  I  take  courage. 

I  do  not  choose  to  look  on  the  dark  side  of  things. 
I  do  not  think  churches  are  often  edified  by  being 
preached  to  about  their  faults  and  sins.  That  is  a  way 
to  discourage  them.  As  Paul  discreetly  spared  men, 
and  seemed  to  rely  on  the  recognition  of  their  excel- 
lences to  lead  them  on  and  make  them  better,  so  I 
look  upon  the  good  in  my  church  and  congregation 
more  than  upon  the  bad.  I  am  cognizant  of  the  bad, 
and  I  aim  at  its  correction  ;  but  I  do  not  like  to  look 
on  the  shady  side  of  events. 

As  to  my  own  personal  history  during  the  year,  I 
have  been  strengthened  for  my  labor  in  body.  In  the 
main,  I  have  been  able  to  hold  myself  steadfast  by 
faith  in  God's  promises,  and  by  the  comfort  of  his 
presence.  I  think  care  and  troul)le  have  been  blessed 
to  me.  And  although  it  has  not  been  such  a  year  as 
I  meant  it  should  be,  there  is  much  occasion  for  me  to 
give  thanks  to  God.  There  is  much  occasion  for  me 
to  renew  my  confidence,  and  to  enter  upon  the  next 
year  with  more  consecration  than  ever. 


372  LECTURE-ROOM   TALKS. 

There  is  one  thing  that  I  will  say  now,  because  I  do 
not  say  it  often.  I  do  not  think  you  have  any  knowl- 
edge, nor  a  chance  to  have  any  knowledge,  of  the 
depth  of  affection  which  I  bear  to  this  church.  I  have 
never,  as  you  know,  attempted  to  catch  your  fancy. 
I  have  never  attempted  to  play  upon  your  senti- 
mental feelings.  I  never  used  that  side  of  the  truth 
much. 

The  great  taxation  of  brain  under  which  I  am  con- 
tinually kept  in  the  organization  of  material  for  my 
ministerial  work,  and  for  my  public  work  outside  of 
the  pulpit,  uses  up  my  strength  to  such  an  extent  that 
I  cannot  be  a  pastor.  I  cannot  go  from  house  to 
house.  If  I  do,  I  cannot  preach  in  the  pulpit.  I  have 
strength  enough  to  fill  either  the  office  of  preacher  or 
that  of  pastor,  but  not  enough  to  fill  both,  in  so  great 
a  congregation  as  this ;  and  I  simply  have  not  at- 
tempted the  pastoral  work.  But,  though  there  are 
many  disadvantages  arising  from  this  fact,  it  has  not 
been  so  disastrous  as  it  would  have  been  if  it  had  not 
been  for  the  fidelity  of  the  brethren  of  the  church. 
There  are  a  great  many  good  women  in  the  church 
who  use  their  religious  and  social  influence  for  the 
benefit  of  those  who  need  succor  and  advice  and  help, 
and  there  are  a  great  many  brethren  in  the  church 
who  have  been  very  faithful ;  so  that,  on  an  average,  I 
think  there  has  been  as  much  pastoral  work  done  in 
this  church  as  in  any  ordinary  church.  And  in  thus 
making  up  for  the  want  of  a  pastor,  the  brethren  of 
this  church  are  doing  just  what  every  Congregational 
church  ought  to  do.  The  church  is  pastor  in  the 
sense  that  one  member  takes  care  of  another.     And  I 


A  LOOK  AT  THE  PAST  YEAR.         373 

have  looked  upon  the  labors  of  the  brethren  durhig 
the  past  year  with  great  gratitude  to  God. 

I  have  looked  upon  the  whole  membership  of  the 
church  with  ever-growing  affection,  —  with  desires 
which  are  at  times  literally  unutterable.  I  have  felt 
sensible  of  your  sympathy  with  me.  I  believe  that 
in  the  main  I  have  had  the  sympathy  of  my  people  in 
my  labor.  I  hope  that  in  the  great  outline,  and  in  the 
filling  up  of  my  work,  I  have  had  the  consent  of  your 
judgment.  I  have  never  desired  that  you  should 
forego  your  own  individual  opinions  and  honest  judg- 
ments, and  follow  me  blindly.  That  has  never  been 
the  effect  or  fruit  of  my  teaching.  And  yet,  where, 
exercising  your  own  judgment,  you  can  see  it  in  your 
way  to  be  in  harmony  with  me,  it  affords  me  great 
pleasure.  I  would  a  great  deal  rather  be  at  agreement 
with  my  people  than  at  disagreement.  It  is  always  a 
pain  to  me  to  find  that  I  am  at  odds  with  the  com- 
munity or  with  my  church.  And  if  at  any  time  I  am 
at  variance  with  them,  it  is  because  I  am  obliged  to 
act  according  to  my  best  light,  and  to  say  what  seems 
to  me  to  be  right.  But  having  thus  acted  or  said  I 
cannot  go  back,  though  every  single  man  should  leave 
me.  Not  only  is  that  my  nature,  but  it  is  what  grace 
has  given  and  does  give.  Yet,  on  the  other  hand, 
when  it  has  pleased  God  to  give  me  the  sympathy  and 
concurrence  of  my  brethren  of  the  ministry  and  of 
the  church,  it  has  been  an  unspeakable  pleasure  to  me. 
And,  in  the  main,  I  think  the  year  has  gone  on  with  an 
undivided  feeling  on  the  part  of  the  church  and  the 
pastor  in  regard  to  the  work  in  our  midst.  I  cannot 
be  too  thankful  for  that. 


374  LECTURE-ROOM  TALKS. 

I  have  never  said  it  to  you  before  that  I  know  of, 
but  I  am  very  sensitive  to  your  prayers.  I  am  espe- 
cially touched  by  the  thought  that  I  have  the  prayers  of 
little  children.  I  have  sometimes  said  that  no  punish- 
ment that  God  could  inflict  upon  me  would  be  harder 
to  bear  than  the  loss  of  the  affection  of  little  children. 
Nothing,  it  seems  to  me,  goes  so  far  to  keep  up  a 
man's  youthful  feelings  as  to  be  in  ardent  sympathy 
with  the  young,  and  to  know  that  they  love  him  and 
pray  for  him. 

When  John  Brown  was  going  out  to  the  gallows, 
he  was  touched  by  the  prayer  of  a  poor  slave  woman. 
He  asked  for  that,  rather  than  for  the  prayers  of  min- 
isters that  were  offered  to  him.  I  know  what  the 
feeling  was,  although  in  very  different  circumstances, 
and  without  the  same  reasons  and  the  same  bitterness 
which  existed  in  his  case.  And  the  thought  that  fami- 
lies, and  especially  little  children,  remember  me  in  my 
work,  is  matter  of  unspeakable  joy.  And  in  the  year 
that  lies  before  us,  I  have  but  one  thing  to  ask  of  you, 
and  that  is,  that  in  addition  to  your  other  kindnesses, 
which  are  unremitted,  I  may  still  be  remembered  from 
day  to  day  in  your  prayers,  and  that  my  sermons  may 
be  remembered  by  you  before  God,  —  not  only  those 
which  are  simply  preached,  but  those  which  are  printed, 
and  which  go  out  and  are  doing  the  work  of  the  Lord 
in  various  ways,  —  which  are  comforting  so  many  in 
sick-chambers,  which  find  their  way  into  so  many  soli- 
tary homes,  which  are  carried  to  so  many  villages  where 
there  is  no  preaching.  Pray  that  they  may  be  more 
and  more  efficient  in  going  forth  to  do  the  Lord's 
work. 


A  LOOK  AT  THE  PAST  YEAR.         375 

In  one  sense  the  publication  of  my  sermons  has 
acted  back  upon  me.  For,  although  I  have  always 
tried  to  preach  what  I  thought  would  be  edifying  to 
you,  yet  I  have  a  growing  desire,  since  my  sermons  are 
republished  both  here  and  abroad,  and  are  being  trans- 
lated into  diiferent  European  languages,  that  they  shall 
preach  Christ  more,  and  especially  those  experimental 
views  of  Christ  which  have  been  such  a  comfort  to 
me,  and  have  helped  so  many  of  you,  and  are,  I  be- 
lieve, helping  so  many  of  the  dispersed  and  scattered 
up  and  down  through  the  world. 


376  LECTURE-KOOM   TALKS. 


JOY    IN    CHRIST.* 

LTHOUGH  Christmas  Eve  is  pre-eminently 
a  home-evening,  and  detains  a  great  many, 
yet  this  meeting  is  home  to  those  of  lis 
who  have  come  out  to  it.  And  the  evening: 
ought  to  be  a  very  joyful  one  to  us  in  all  its  associa- 
tions, —  in  all  the  truths  which  it  naturally  brings  to 
the  soul. 

I  have  never  felt  as  though  the  world  were  happy 
enough  and  joyful  in  its  religion.  Eeligion  has  not 
been,  as  it  should  be,  a  radiant  thing.  In  its  history 
on  earth  it  has  created  a  great  deal  of  joy,  and  it 
has  assuaged  a  great  deal  of  suffering ;  but,  on  the 
whole,  the  teaching  of  it  and  the  profession  of  it  have 
not  been  characteristically  joyful.  At  the  same  time, 
the  spirit  of  true  Christianity  is  the  spirit  of  pre-emi- 
nent radiance,  bountifulness,  generosity,  beneficence, 
— and  not  the  less  because  it  bears  burdens  and  carries 
yokes.  It  is — shall  I  &2ij  gay?  Yes,  if  you  employ 
the  term  in  its  higher  sense,  —  that  sense  in  which  it 
is  applicable  to  the  sphere  of  spiritual  influences. 
Rightly  considered,  religion  is  genial,  hopeful,  joy- 
ful, and  should  be  sparkling,  radiant.  A  man's  soul 
is  to  be  as  the  heavens  were  on  the  night  when  the 
shepherds  looked  up  and  saw  them  full  of  angels  as 
well  as  stars. 

As   I  grow  older,  this  is  my  experience.    I  do  not 

*  Priday  eveniug,  December  24,  1 869. 


JOY  IN   CHRIST.  377 

mean  that  cares  are  fewer,  that  sorrows  are  fewer, 
that  suffering  does  not  abound  in  its  own  way  and 
times  ;  but  this,  —  that  my  constant  thought  of  the  di- 
vine throne  grows  sweeter.  God  seems  to  me  more 
ample  in  goodness  and  a  world  more  gentle.  And, 
although  I  believe  in  the  alternative  justice  of  God, 
although  I  believe  that  he  inflicts  pain  as  the  necessary 
means  of  the  greatest  good,  yet,  after  all,  the  predom- 
inant conception  which  I  have  as  I  grow  older,  is  of 
the  fatherhood  of  God,  and  the  ineffably  gentle  mercy 
of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  And  I  bear  testimony, 
to-night,  that  the  nearer  you  come  to  the  Lord  Jesus 
.Christ,  the  nearer  you  come  to  the  true  view  of  the 
Saviour,  the  more  joyful  your  Christian  experience  is. 

Even  those  things  which  at  first  are  not  joy-breed- 
ing, at  the  end  are.  This  is  according  to  the  words 
of  Christ,  where  he  says,  "  Take  my  yoke  upon  you, 
and  learn  of  me."  "  My  yoke  is  easy,  and  my  bur- 
den is  light."  The  figure  is  that  of  a  pair  of  bullocks, 
freshly  yoked  up,  that  twist  and  turn,  and  try  to  break 
away  from  restraint.  They  are  not  accustomed  to 
regular  work,  they  do  not  believe  in  it,  they  dislike 
it,  the  wildness  of  their  animal  nature  is  in  them  ;  and 
yet  after  a  little  time  their  neck  gets  hardened  to 
the  yoke,  and  they  become  used  to  the  load.  And 
although  at  first  a  very  few  pounds  seem  heavy,  soon 
they  take  a  great  load  and  scarcely  feel  it. 

Now  the  Saviour  says,  "  Put  my  harness  on  ;  and 
though  at  first  it  may  seem  to  gall  and  strain,  after  a 
very  little  while  it  shall  be  comfortable.  My  yoke  shall 
be  easy,  and  my  burden  —  the  load  which  you  draw 
by  that  yoke  — shall  be  light  to  you." 


378  LECTURE-ROOM  TALKS. 

A  growing  experience  in  the  Christian  life  reveals 
more  of  joy,  more  of  confidence,  more  of  hope,  and 
more  of  victory,  than  it  does  of  pain  and  regret.  So 
that  if  a  man  could  take  his  choice  of  all  the  lives 
that  are  possible  on  the  earth,  there  is  none  so  much 
to  be  desired  for  its  joy-producing  quality  as  a  truly 
self-denying,  consecrated  Christian  life.  This  is  my 
conviction,  founded  not  only  on  my  faith,  but  on  my 
observation  of  men  and  of  their  lives ;  and  it  is  the 
testimony,  I  think,  of  God's  people  everywhere. 


Cambridge  :  Printed  by  Welch,  Bigelow,  &  Co. 


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